


The Aftermath: The End

by Fmfan1980



Series: The Aftermath of a Mirror Journey [2]
Category: Battlestar Galactica (2003), Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Stargate SG-1
Genre: Action/Adventure, Drama, F/F, Gen
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-06-26
Updated: 2017-06-02
Packaged: 2018-07-18 08:03:12
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 31
Words: 113,099
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7306660
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Fmfan1980/pseuds/Fmfan1980
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Sequal to 'The Aftermath'. This takes place two years after the destruction of the device that would have sent Vala and Daniel to the Ori galaxy. Since the device was destroyed, there was no Ori, and now things have changed for SG-1. A new team heads to Caprica on a recon mission, and comes face to face with the end of days. (A SG-1, BtVS, and BSG 2003 X-over.)</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Disclaimer: I don't own the characters, locations or plots from Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Stargate SG1, and BSG: 2003. I'm just playing with the universe that the creators made.

**Stargate Command, two years later.**

It had been two years since Willow, Buffy, Colonel Mitchell, and Teal'c destroyed the oval shaped, purple coloured object at the Glastonbury Tor cavern; leading to the SGC having never encountered the Ori. This in turn never led to the galactic-wide war that the alternate universe version of Captain Willow Rosenberg, Major Willow Rosenberg, warned about in Buffy's living room all those years ago. Of course, that did not stop SG-1 and the other SG teams from exploring the galaxy through the Stargate.

While the data from the Sunnydale Outpost, in regards to the monitoring of the Hellmouth, was being sent to the IPR where Faith was still the lead Slayer; the data from the Death Valley Ancient outpost belonged to the SGC. And from that data, the SGC made discoveries on technology that they were just beginning to explore.

Some of the technology had already been developed, and was already incorporated into the design of the latest Daedalus class ships; the Odyssey and the Korolev. In addition, the new technology had also been incorporated into the design of a brand new class of space faring vessels.

Willow was primarily responsible for designing a smaller ship to complement the Daedalus-class vessels; a new cruiser escort version of the 304 class, another name for the Daedalus class, ships. These would be ships, dubbed the Avalon-class or the 305's, that would have a smaller crew; about eighty people instead of the regular crew of one hundred and fifty, and no hanger bays for Home World Security's space fighter interceptors, the F-302's. Instead, the two that were already built, the Avalon and the HMS Britannia which were already exploring the galaxy, had a Puddle Jumper each that was transported from Atlantis. With a build time of approximately seven months instead of the regular year and a half for the 304-class ships, the Avalon classes were supposed to be faster, and far more agile than their sister 304-class ships.

And with another two on the way for the Russians, the British, and the Chinese, the 305's were found to be a godsend. Of course the new 304's and the 305's were developed with the latest military technology in mind.

Both classes of ships carried a double shielding system, both Ancient and Asgard, developed by both Willow and Colonel Carter, who was the head of Stargate Research and Development at Area 51. The shields, consisting of the familiar elliptical Asgard shield which was the primary method of defence, and an Ancient shielding system that would hug the hull of the ship in the event that the primary shielding system was compromised and needed to be recharged. Both systems would be running on independent naquada power sources in case one was knocked out.

Then came the development of a ship borne energy weapon based on Ancient designs that were discovered at the Death Valley outpost, which also had fully armed silos of drone weapons. It was Colonel Carter who determined that Naquadria was the only power source good enough to power the Ancient weapons. The Colonel had developed new naquadria generators that had in place various safeguards to prevent the unstable Naquadria from overloading.

The American Odyssey, the Russian Korolev, and the two 305's, the HMS Britannia, and the Air Force vessel Avalon, were the first ships completed to be integrated with all of this new technology; this would be in addition to a future 304 for the Chinese and two for the British, and the Apollo for the Americans, which would be completed in another year. All of these new ships, and the rest that follow, would be powered with a brand new primary power source that was given to the SGC a year ago by the Asgard. Although it was brand new for the SGC, in reality, they were aware that this was a legacy Asgard technology which would be used as a base going forward. This power source was given as thanks for the protein marker that the Asgard had copied from Willow's body… a protein marker formed due to the redhead having both active Ancient and Furling genes. The marker was copied, and it was finally developed into a cure for the Asgard genetic disease.

According to Thor, ships that were powered with this legacy naquada powered generator would be able to traverse the distance between Earth and Atlantis in a week, instead of eighteen days. A significant improvement by any measure.

With the Daedalus having just left the orbit of Lantea in the Pegasus galaxy, the Prometheus was the next ship due to be brought back to Area 51 for a major refit.

The entire make-up of the powers-that-be in regards to the Milky Way had been turned on its head. The Goa'uld were now scattered, the Jaffa had their freedom and were on their way to charting their own destiny with Bra'tac leading the new High Council along with Teal'c, Rya'c, Raknor, and various other Free Jaffa by his side. They were instrumental in holding back the more 'traditional' tendencies of Gerak and his allies; and in having better relations with Earth, whereas Gerak wanted to be more isolationist. There was also the looming threat of the Lucian Alliance, a band of criminals and warlords to whom SG-1 was introduced to by the space pirate, Vala Mal Doran. She was there when the team traveled to Glastonbury Tor, hoping to get a share of the riches that were found. When she was denied, Vala left for part unknown after a month. Finally, there was also the threat of the Trust, rouge members of the NID who were taken over by the Goa'uld, and led by Ba'al. With Ba'al hiding on Earth, the SGC searched high and low for any clue of where he may be hidden.

He was eventually found; and a team was sent to capture him.

However, it was soon discovered that the man they captured was a clone. One of many who were now scattered across the galaxy thanks to Asgard cloning technology he had acquired when he used to work for Anubis. With Anubis' energy form trapped on P9Q-281 following the System Lord being forcibly pulled out of Willow's body after having possessed her, it was revealed that his Kull Warriors were under Ba'al's control. And he was using it to conquer the scattered Goa'uld and force them under his banner. It was a situation that forced the SGC to reverse engineer a Kull Armour they had captured. The primary problem was the heat generated by the armour absorbing attacks would be harmful to the human's wearing it. It was Dr. Fraiser and her medical team, along with Dr. Lee, who created an undersuit that would absorb the heat generated. In conjunction with Willow and Colonel Carter, who were responsible for designning the human made versions of the armour, the suit would have various contact points that would line up with contact points on the armour; the energy would then be channeled to naquadah plates on the shoulders of the armour, which in turn were used to provide power for the plasma repeaters on the wrists. The armour, used together with the Kull Distruptor, played crucial roles when battling Ba'al's Kull Warriors during the course of searching for his clones throughout the galaxy.

In the meantime, while various teams formed by the IOA and NID searched for Ba'al and the rest of the Trust on Earth, it was work as usual for the SGC.

**Planet Designated P6Y-283, storage room, 1230 hours.**

At the basement of a museum lay a ring shaped object that was leaning against a wall, a ring shaped object that made a strange noise as an unstable vortex shot outwards, and then settled back into a blue, rippling puddle of what looked like water. The blue, water-like pool rippled before two people jumped out and landed onto the floor, followed by two more, and then another two.

One of them, a young woman with short blonde hair, looked around before she headed for an object about the size of a basketball that lay right next to the ring shaped device. She crouched down to pick it up, just as two LED lights on the device itself switched on, and shone on her while the others walked up behind her and looked down at the ball.

"General Landry, sir," said the man behind the blonde haired young woman, "SG-1 has arrived safely."

"Understood, Colonel Mitchell," said General Landry's voice through small speakers on the surface while the others started to looked around. A tall, blonde haired young woman was at a table looking at a few artefacts with a redhead, while another dark haired young woman was looking at a few tablets on another table after she turned on a table lamp. General Landry then told the Colonel he'll be checking-in after eight hours, but in the meantime… they were to perform a discrete recon mission only.

"Understood, sir," said the Colonel, "Mitchell out."

The blonde haired young woman watched the lights go dim before she reached towards the bottom of the basketball sized device, and pressed a button. The device cloaked in her hands before she stood up and then placed it in a corner of the room just as the blue pool vanished. SG-1 found themselves in near complete darkness, the only light coming from the lamp where the dark haired young woman was reading a stone tablet, while another dark haired young man examined the other broken odds and ends scattered around the table.

"Satterfield?" asked the Colonel.

Lt. Lauren Satterfield looked up at the man and nodded her head before saying that the images they received from the basketball shaped MALP, one designed after the 'hover MALP' that Willow created using the Asgard construction beams years ago following the Ancient download into her mind, were accurate. The tablet, as well as the signage on the walls, and doors were all in ancient Greek. The young woman put the tablet down and then turned off the lamp when they heard movement outside the door. The Colonel signaled his team, who were all wearing jackets with civilian clothing underneath, to stay at either side of the door. With three on each side, the Colonel reached under his jacket and took out a Zat from its holster. As the door opened, the Colonel fired one bolt at each of the two men who had just stepped into the room.

After they fell on the floor with a thud, the short haired blonde, and the dark haired young man pulled each of the men into the room while the tall blonde, whose hair was in a ponytail, closed the door once again.

"Must have come in to get some work done," she said after the door clicked shut.

"Red," said the Colonel as he looked at Captain Willow Rosenberg, "change their memories, would you?"

"They just walked in and slipped, sir?" asked Willow.

"Yeah," came the reply as Willow crouched down and put her hands on the sides of their heads. The redhead had spent two years getting used to her Ancient abilities that came with her cloned near-ascended body. She already had the typical healing abilities of a near ascended Ancient, as well as the capability to heal others. In addition, she had developed her telekinesis, telepathy, and her energy projection… however she still had problems with gathering and firing bioelectrical charges from her hands. Whenever she used that particular ability, her hands would burn… her skin would melt off causing her to howl in pain until she fired the shot. And despite her healing ability taking care of the damage, she would have shadow pains for a few days after the fact.

"Summers, Tara, Grogan, Satterfield, we're going to split up into two groups and mix in with the locals," said the Colonel, "Summers, me, and Tara will be in one group; while Red, Satterfield, and Grogan in the second group. Keep your Zats away, and… and be careful. The MALP's showed us this society is pretty far advanced, probably more so than us."

"The Delphi Museum of the Colonies," said Buffy as she recalled reading the briefing packets based on the information collected by the basketball style MALP two days ago, "sounds… interesting. But Colonies of what?"

"Which is why we're here, ma'am," said Grogan.

"Daniel would be crazy about this place," said Tara smirking as she leaned against the door.

"Yeah… well, his loss," said the Colonel shrugging his shoulders while Willow and Buffy chuckled, "he's the one who wanted to go to Atlantis… ah well." The Colonel then asked Tara if she was already used to the planet's magic.

"I'm set," she replied as she gathered blue coloured magical energy in the palm of her hands, before dissipating it into the air, "obviously it's different than Earth, a bit… denser? I guess? But it shouldn't be a problem."

"Red?" said the Colonel as he nodded towards the door. Willow rushed to the door, and then closed her eyes. She mentally searched for anyone in the surrounding area, nodding her head at the Colonel when she didn't detect anyone.

"We're clear, sir," whispered Willow. The Colonel then nodded at Buffy, who opened the door while Willow set up an invisible telekinetic shield in front of them. Satterfield and Grogan crept out first, followed by Buffy and Colonel Mitchell, and finally Willow and Tara.

"Good night," whispered Willow at the two unconscious men before she looked at Tara, and smiled. Walking behind Buffy and the Colonel, Willow took the opportunity to reach for, and then hold her wife's hand. The six members of the new SG-1 walked up a flight of stairs, and onto another landing. They were looking at an orange coloured door with a window in the middle that looked out to a hallway. There were throngs of people walking about looking at statues, and various types of artwork while Satterfield whispered that the sign above the door indicated that they were on the lobby.

"Well then," whispered the Colonel as he turned to look at Tara, "if you would please magically download the language pack into our heads?"

"It's just a magical translator, Cam," chuckled Tara before she whispered a spell, and then, while her right hand was glowing a blue glow.. she touched the Colonel, Grogan, Willow, and Buffy, "and now you guys can understand and speak Ancient Greek for the next twenty-four hours."

"Thanks, sweetie," said Willow as Tara smirked at her.

"And this is why I'm separating you two," chuckled Colonel Mitchell as Tara blushed, while Buffy patted Willow's shoulder

"Well," coughed Willow before she nodded at the door, "I guess we better go check out the new neighbours."

"I just hope this doesn't end up like the whole Tegalus Incident," groaned Grogan.

"Which is why we're doing it this way," replied Satterfield looking out the window in the door, before turning to Grogan, "this is the first of who knows how many research and recon missions."

"And once we know these guys won't freak out," said the Colonel shrugging his shoulders, "we can make official contact. Just be glad there wasn't anyone here the night the MALP came through… if there was, then we could have had a Tegalus situation. But.. maybe not… who knows. All we know is that these people are kinda advanced. Remember those small ships we saw flying through the atmosphere from the MALP cameras."

"True, sir," nodded Grogan while Satterfield turned towards Willow.

"This planet familiar, Captain?" asked Satterfield as she looked at Willow, "I mean… did you come here when you were Athena?"

"I don't know, Lauren," said Willow shaking her head, "I've got ten thousand years' worth of memories in my head that I'm still sifting through. Maybe I have.. I guess I'll know once we take a look around?"

"Alright, folks," said the Colonel as he opened the door to the buzz of various people walking around and talking among themselves, too busy to notice the people who just walked out of a stair-well, "let's check out the joint."

**Deep Space, two hours later.**

A blue coloured tear opened in space before the Avalon shot out of it, decelerated, and then stopped. On the bridge of the ship, which had been at a nearby planet when it received a distress call coded to the SGC's subspace frequency before arriving in the orbit of a gas giant, Colonel Paul Emerson was just told by the Major seated to his left that the distress call was coming from a Teltak that seemed to be floating just beneath the cloud cover.

"This is Colonel Paul Emerson of the Earth ship Avalon," said the commander of the ship, "identify yourself, and how you have this frequency."

"Oh nuts," said a female voice over the speakers as the Colonel listened with his brows knitted together, "I thought I'd get someone like my Daniel, or Colonel Mitchell, or… oh.. oh… or Buffy and Willow. But no… I mean it's not that I'm not glad to see you, Colonel… but it would have been much more fun if the ones who picked me up were those guys."

"Who is this?" demanded the Colonel.

"Oh, sorry," said the woman's voice playfully, "my name is Vala… Vala Mal Doran, and my ship's dead in space. Had a run in with a Lucien Alliance ship after I tried to… let's say acquire a gold necklace, but that's not too important to this story."

The Colonel sighed and shook his head when he heard the name 'Vala Mal Doran', the same woman who single-handedly stole the Prometheus, the same woman who he heard listed her occupation to General Landry as 'space-pirate'.

"Anyway," said Vala while the Colonel rubbed his forehead in frustration, "to make a long story short, I was hit in the hyperdrive and well… it went on for a while but I exited hyperspace in this mass of clouds ove this gas giant. Anyway, how I got the frequency doesn't matter and…"

"Oh Yes, it does," said the Colonel, "my Marines will meet you and your ship in the storage bay, Miss Mal Doran. I, and General Landry, have a few questions for you."

"Fine," huffed Vala.

"Stand by for transport," said the Colonel just as the Captain to his right side told him that scans through the cloud cover was showing a large metallic object.

"It could be a space station of some kind, sir," said the Captain as he looked back at the Colonel, "whatever it is, is huge."

"Plot a course through the storms," said the Colonel as when he saw lighting just beneath the cloud cover, "send a message to the SGC about what we've found. Tell them I intend to check out why there's a station all the way out here. And also tell General Landry that it was Miss Mal Doran who sent the distress call."

"Yes, sir," said the Captain.

"Marines are in the hold, and the ship has been beamed in, sir," said the Major as he looked back at the Colonel who got up off his seat.

"I'm heading to the hold," said the Colonel, "once a course has been plotted, take us in, Captain Stevens."

"Understood, sir,' said the man as the Colonel nodded his head, and then rushed out of the bridge. The main question going through his mind was how Vala found out the SGC's distress frequency for Earth vessels, and the second question concerned whatever they found in the gas giant. He just had a feeling he wouldn't like the answer to both of the questions.

TBC.

 


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N 1: Anything that "looks: like this in italics" is a thought projection in English from either Willow or one of the other characters. I will label who thought what.
> 
> A/N 2: Any dialogue line that "shows up like this" means that the character is speaking in Greek/Colonial Standard.

**Delphi Museum of the Colonies, 1430 hours.**

Two hours.

That's how long it took for an entire guided tour of the museum as Colonel Mitchell rubbed his forehead once the lights came back on in the auditorium. He, and the others, were seated on a bench for the past forty minutes as they watched the final part of the tour, a short film on the First Cylon War, followed by the armistice, and then the rebuilding of Colonial society.

Throughout the entire tour, the Colonel and the rest of SG-1 had been mentally connected by Willow.

It was a tactic that they would use through every mission thought the Stargate, and this was no different. With instant communications between the six of t hem, the Colonel knew that they could share tactics and orders without having to verbally shout over the sound of weapons fire. However, he was also aware that her reach was limited, once they would be separated, they would be out of her reach.. which was when the miniature subspace radio's they were carrying would come intyo play.

For now though, the six of them mentally shared what they felt about what they had learned.

_Willow: "So potential Tegalus situation?"_

_Buffy: "I'd say that, they're very insistent on the whole Kobol being the home of humanity thing."_

_Mitchell: "Yeah. Ummm… Red? Anything come up with the name?"_

_Willow: "It'll be on my report, sir."_

The Colonel and others stood up from their bench, and then followed the crowd out of the exit while continuing to 'talk'. Using Willow's mind as a relay.

_Tara: "So you do know that name, Will?"_

Willow looked back at her and discretely nodded her head before 'telling' them that Kobol was the name of a class of ship.

_Satterfield: "Whose?"_

_Willow: "Furling."_

Upon hearing the name of one of the members of the Alliance of Four Races, the group stopped right out the exit, and then stepped to one side before Tara recommended that they move on so as not to arouse any suspicions. The Colonel nodded towards the museum proper before mentally telling the group that it was time they began the rest of their mission. While they were walking Willow gave a quick rundown of what she knew.

By the time they had walked past several statues, one of whom had Willow stop, and shake her head before continuing on their walk, Willow had showed them images of herself as Athena moving through a dark, metallic hallway towards a room that resembled a bridge. They had seen her touching the panels as a holographic HUD rose out of the pedestal in a corner of the bridge, and repeated the captain's final log. The Colonel and his team saw, and heard, the Captain saying they had crash landed on the planet, and had sent a distress call to the Alterra but received no response.

"We are leaving for their home through the Astria Porta," the Captain had said as the ascended Athena looked on without an expression on her face, "we are leaving for Terra. If any Furling or Alterran receives this message, please come help us. We are waiting."

Back at the museum, as they walked past people and various works of art, Willow mentally told them that she never found out the danger the captain was talking about; all she knew was that the ship crash landed thousands of years after Atlantis left for Pegasus. She then 'told' them about how one day, she felt her powers as an ascended being growing in strength. She told them that it was the same for her and her sister, Hera. Curious, she followed the channelling of power into her being, a result of humans giving up their free will to worship in her name, all the way to Earth. There, Willow, as the ascended Athena encountered twelve Goa'uld in the process of showing off their 'powers' before kidnapped thousands of humans and placed them on another planet for a Goa'uld-style, disgusting, social experiment.

Back on the planet Caprica, once the team had their guidebooks and maps, they left the museum and entered a bright sunny day while Willow 'told' them that the Goa'uld would use their regular M.O. of posing as gods. They divided the people into twelve tribes, each taking one tribe as their own.

_Willow: "They would let the humans develop socially, politically, even provide them with basic technology; and then they would manipulate them to war, and then peace. War, and then peace… each time the Goa'uld wanted to see how these humans would evolve. Would they rise and improve on what the Goa'uld taught them? Or would they just fall, never to rise again?"_

_Grogan: "So this cycle of destruction that they've been talking about?"_

_Willow: "Is the same cycle of violence which continued even after the Goa'uld grew bored, and left. When their 'gods' didn't return, the humans chose to become their 'god'."_

Satterfield and the others turned to Willow and looked at her with confusion etched on their faces once they walked down the stairs to the street level.

_Willow: "I was there the day the first human took on the names of their gods, and I have to say… the one who took my name was kinda hot."_

"Hey," whispered Tara as Satterfield chuckled upon seeing the mock horror on the blonde witch's face. Willow brushed Tara's arm and stuck her tongue out at her before continuing her briefing on what she knew when she was ascended.

_Willow: "Anyway, those names were passed down like titles. Only those who were in the higher echelons of their society knew this practice. When one Athena, Hera, Zeus, or any of them died.. the name would be passed on to a pre-selected person. It would be explained away as the 'god' changing form… a type of rebirth."_

_Satterfield: "So you know their entire history, ma'am?"_

_Willow: "No, I visited that planet every few decades, which then became centuries. When they were under the control of the Goa'uld, they found the Furling ship, and in that ship, they found something that would change their history forever; organic drones. These drones look just like their Furling masters… they looked human. They were built for maintenance, and to take over from the crew in the event that everyone on the ship was in danger, or dead. These drones? They were unique… their A.I was so advanced that… that it was capable of evolving beyond its core programming to become more."_

_Mitchell: "More human?"_

_Willow: "If the situation called for it. Based on their experiences, they would learn and grow. Since the Goa'uld couldn't tell the difference, the humans enslaved these organic drones and used them for war, for crop cultivation, name it… they did it. They were enslaved, just like the humans were enslaved. I returned to Kobol a hundred years after they found the drones and the Goa'uld left, and already cities were being built. I watched the humans enslave them for decades.. but every generation of humans that passed? The fact that the drones were really machines were just forgotten. Once the first few cities were built, the drones were thought to be human… so they took the chance and called themselves the Thirteenth Tribe."_

_Buffy: "The Thirteenth tribe then left Kobol, to Earth… at least according to these Scrolls of theirs the guide talked about."_

_Satterfield: "Yea, ma'am."_

_Willow: "Technically, they did arrive at Earth."_

_Tara: "What's that mean? Technically?"_

_Grogan: "We haven't found any evidence of organic machines on Earth, ma'am."_

_Willow: "There was a war. An ideological civil war. Look, over time… I started to visit Kobol less… I mean there were far more places in the universe than just one world, and I liked traveling with my sister. Anyway, I saw that with every generation that passed, the story changed from the early human beings being brought to Kobol from Earth, to humans being evolved on Kobol. Teachers taught kids that Kobol was where humanity was born, where they evolved. But the drones knew differently. They accessed the records on the ship, and even the Captain's log. They also activated several systems and found that the sensors had been running scans for millions of years on very low power. They had proof that the early humans where brought to Kobol from Earth. No one believed them, but they kept on insisting that Earth was the homeworld.. the birthplace of humanity."_

_Mitchell: "We can guess what happened after that."_

_Willow: "I saw the resulting civil war. I saw people; men, women, and children dying. Years after the start of the war, the drones built a ship, and left… all of them. They had the coordinates to our Earth and… and I couldn't let them get there. I've seen what happens when you give an early civilization advanced technology when they're not ready for it… I've been to galaxy's where solar systems vanished in massive explosions because they found technology they weren't ready for. I saw planets destroyed, I've seen war that'll make your blood run cold. I knew that Earth humans were still at a stage where they couldn't handle the advanced technology that the Furling drones were taking with them, so I changed their destination. Changed their final coordinates to a habitable planet that they thought was Earth."_

"What happened to no interference in the lower plains?" asked the Colonel as they headed to a train station. They had checked the map, and discovered that the only buildings of note were a tall building in the distance called the Telamont Building, a spaceport, and a military base. The Colonel then went off on a tangent before Willow could answer his question while checking the map before saying that he believed that it would be better to explore Caprica City, the capital of the Colonies for a better idea on the lives of the Colonials.

"Plus we can infiltrate these Ministries to get a better read on their capabilities," whispered the Colonel.

On the way to the train station; Grogan asked Willow if she was punished for interfering.

"I was punished for it. I interfered in the evolution of a species in the lower plains, and I was hit hard with the Others stripping my powers away and forcing me to remain on Earth," said Willow, "when I got my powers back after a thousand years, I went back to Kobol, and it was a ghost town.. a ghost planet. Everyone was gone."

"And they came here," whispered Buffy as she looked at another map they had taken from the information desk at the museum.

"Yep," whispered Willow, as they neared a train station five minutes away from the museum. The six of them headed into the station, and then took the escalators down to the main lobby. It was there, among the throngs of people rushing all about, that the group walked directly to the counters that lay in a circular shape, where attendants were handing tickets to their paying customers.

"Tara?" asked the Colonel as he looked at the black, domed, objects on the roof.. as well as along the walls, "think you could hide us?"

"Yeah," she replied as they got in line, "for about ten seconds? Maybe? I'm afraid any more than that, then we'll have security shut down the whole station."

"That's what they'd do back home, at least," said Satterfield.

"Should be enough. Red?"

"It'll work," Willow whispered as she stepped forward after being next in line to buy a ticket. Thankful for Tara's magical language download, Willow smiled at the young man behind the curved bullet proof glass and, while mentally looking into his mind so that she could create an image of the currency that they needed. Once she found out the amounts of their currency, cubits, that she needed; Willow connected her mind to the attendants on either side of the man as well while she reached into the tray at the bottom of the glass panelling.

"Six return tickets to Caprica City, please," said the redhead in, what the attendant, and the customers behind her, heard in Ancient Greek. While Willow turned her palms up to receive the tickets while mentally showing the attendant, and the others next to him, that she was handing them several cubits for each passenger. In the meantime, Tara, who was standing in the rear with Colonel Mitchell and the others, flicked her wrist, and mumbled 'hide' in Ancient Greek.

With the camera's just showing black mist that had the security officers confused, Willow got the tickets that they needed from the attendant. She walked back to where the team was standing, with Tara flicking her wrist again; the security officers looked on in confusion at the black mist that was slowly vanishing.

_Mitchell: "Once we get to Caprica City, we'll break up into our groups, and then head out. Check-in with me every hour through our subspace radios since Red will be out of range. And remember, we have a check-in due with the SGC in under six hours."_

_Willow, Grogan, Satterfield: "Understood, sir."_

"The Caprica Express high speed rail," said Willow as she handed out the tickets, "according to the signage, it should take us to Caprica city in… oooh… twenty minutes."

"Let's get going," said the Colonel before they headed for the electronic gates that led to escalators beyond, which in turn led to the underground train platforms.

"Looks like we've got one coming in five minutes," said Buffy as they went through the gates, and then headed downstairs.

**The Avalon, at that same time.**

Vala had her hands up, smirking at the four Marines who had their weapons trained at her.

"Oooh," she cooed, "I have four strapping men watching out for me, how romantic. This reminds me of the time I first arrived at the SGC. There were four men who made sure I wasn't carrying any weapons before letting me through the Stargate, so…. Will any one of you be.. examining me?"

Vala's smirk grew as the four men looked on uneasily as she put her hands on her hips, saying that her hand were already tired from trying to fix her hyperdrive. She then signed, and looked at the bay of the ship she and the Tel'tak were beamed into.

"New ship, I take it?" she asked looking at the silent Marines, "oh come on, you boys can speak, right? It's not like I'm going to steal this ship.. I mean yes, I stole the Prometheus but that was for a completely different reason. And this time I don't have a reason to steal the ship and…"

Vala sighed when she realized that the men weren't responding to her.

"I swear my Daniel and Colonel Mitchell were better conversationalist than you four," mumbled Vala when a smile suddenly appeared on her face as she looked at one of the men, "hey… what would you do if I told you I was having your baby?"

"Miss Mal Doran!" yelled Colonel Emerson as he stormed into the bay, past the Marines who had moved slightly so that their Zats were still aimed at Vala. The Colonel stopped two steps from her and demanded to know the truth about why she was here.

"I already told you," came the reply as she reached into her left pocket. She held her other hand up as the Marines stepped forward, crying out that she was unarmed. Vala slowly took out a gold chain that had a bright blue pendent, and then handed it to the Colonel, "that's the only thing I acquired and…"

"Stole," said the Colonel as he looked at the necklace, and then handed it to a Marine.

"Borrowed," shrugged Vala.

"Stole," repeated the Colonel as he turned towards her again.

"Stole is such a…"

"You stole it from someone who was armed to the teeth?" asked the Colonel.

"Just a bit of fun," smirked Vala while shrugging her shoulders.

"And now you got yourself stuck here," said the Colonel as Vala grimaced and nodded her head, "and the distress frequency?"

"I may have seen it when I was on the Prometheus before we beamed into Glastonbury Tor… you know.. the treasure I was cheated out of?"

"You're a thief," said the Colonel as the ship started to shake.

"What's going on?" asked Vala as the group tried to keep their balance.

The ship started to shake as everyone fell onto the floor while a voice came of the speakers telling all hands to report to their stations, that it was going to be a very bumpy ride.

"Colonel Emerson to the bridge."

The Colonel was helped up by one of the Marines, while another one helped Vala who had fell onto the floor. The ship was still shaking while the Colonel ordered Vala to be placed in one of the ship's quarters while there was a guard at her door.

"Come now, Colonel," said Vala, "I can always… oh boy."

The ship shook again, leading all of them falling onto the floor of the bay. Shaking her head, Vala was the first one up before helping the Colonel get to his feet. IN the meantime, the other Marines helped each other up, while Vala looked around as a voice through the speakers said that they had gone through the worst of the turbulence.

"I'm needed at the bridge," said the Colonel, "Marines, get Miss Mal Doran to the infirmary, make sure she gets checked out and then take her to her room."

"But…" said Vala.

"No buts," replied the Colonel as Vala pouted, "move."

While the Marines were taking Vala away, the Colonel rushed through the hallways of the ship until he was at the bridge.

"Report!" yelled the man as he walked down a step past his command chair, and towards the large window that looked out at a massive station. The man ordered a scan be run on the station which had three massive ringed sections that appeared to keep on rotating in place connected to a central pillar. He saw that it seemed to be unkempt by whoever it was that built the station in orbit of the gas giant due to the fact that some areas of the station, particularly the top-most ring section looked unfinished to the naked eye. Frowning as he crossed his arms over his chest while still feeling the ship shaking as it slowly circled the station, the Colonel saw what he thought to be airlocks; seven of them all on the 'cap' section of the enormous station.

'What are you doing here,' thought the Colonel to himself before the Major near his command chair called for him. Turning around, the Colonel nodded his head and walked over to the young man who told him that scans showed various areas of the station were in disrepair.

"Power is out on many sections of the interior," said the Major as Colonel Emerson looked over his shoulder at the screen, "I am reading different types of weapons; missiles, nukes, small arms, ship to ship ordnance, and… and fuel."

"What type of fuel?" asked the Colonel as he looked out the window at the station, and then at the screen, "Major?"

"It's definitely some kind of hydrocarbon that's being distilled from the gas giant's atmosphere and stored in tanks, sir," said the Major while the Colonel stood behind him. Then, all of a sudden, there was a red blip that showed up on the screen, along with rows of various numbers alongside that red blip.

"Major?" asked the Colonel, "what is that?"

"It's a life-sign, sir," said the young man who looked at the screen with confusion etched on his face, "at least I think it's a life-sign."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"Whatever's down there has body heat, a heartbeat but… oh God, sir?" gasped the Major as he looked back at the Colonel behind him with fear in his eyes, "the scans are detecting nanites."

Colonel Emerson had read the reports of the replicator versions of Colonel Carter, Captain Willow Rosenberg, and Captain Buffy Summers that infiltrated the Alpha site a little more than two years ago. He knew that those replicators were destroyed when the Alpha Site self-destructed through overloading the Naquadria generators. BY the time the Prometheus ran a scan of the planet a few h ours later, the three replicators were nano-cells that had already scattered harmlessly into the wind, but there was always the danger that the replicators could one day return. That day came in the Pegasus galaxy, when the Atlantis expedition made contact with a race of beings that called themselves the Asurans; the Pegasus replicators. The replicators captured Dr. Weir, and Atlantis Recon-1 led by Colonel Sheppard.. and found the location of Atlantis and Earth, after having their minds violated. While the initial attack on Atlantis by a replicator copy of Atlantis was thwarted, Home World ordered the creation of weapons based on the Ancient Anti-replicator weapon that Willow had created after having had the Ancient download in her mind. It would be six months after that attack that Colonel Carter, Willow, and Dr. Lee came up with the ARG – Anti-Replicator Gun, a weapon that was about the size of a rifle that fired an energy wave that would permanently disrupt the connections between each replicator block

Thus destroying replicators.

And the Colonel believed he was looking at a new breed of Replicator; complete with a heat signature, and a beating heart. But still made up of nanites.

"I need to be sure," said the Colonel before setting his jaw, "place a shield around the teleportation rings. I want a team of Marines there now, two of them with the ARG's.. and the other two with Zat's in case this is something else entirely."

"You think someone's been playing with replicator cells, sir?" asked the Major.

"That's what I want to know," said the Colonel, "if it's a new replicator, then on my signal.. we'll activate the rings and release it into open space. But no matter what, I want a comprehensive scan once it's brought on aboard."

"Understood, sir," said the Major, "Marines have already reached the ring room, sir."

"I'm on my way," said the Colonel.

It took the man a few minutes running through the hallways until he reached the ring room where the Marines were already waiting. The Colonel reached for a phone and then ordered the shield to be raised around the ring platform. They watched a curved, grey shimmer activate around the ring platform before ordering the Marines to raise their weapons.

"Beam the replicator onto the ring platform," ordered the Colonel. He then put the phone down upon hearing the familiar buzzing sound of the Asgard transporters. Colonel Emerson watched a bright white flash of light depositing a male humanoid onto the ring platform.

"My name is Colonel Paul Emerson of the Earth ship, Avalon."

" _Where am I?!"_ yelled the man as the Colonel looked at his Marines with confusion on his face before looking at the panicked man who was covered in dirt, grime, and sweat. It seemed as if he was in the stations for several days. What surprised them wasn't his haphazard appearance, and the fact that he looked sickly with his sunken eyes; neither were the Colonel and the Marines worried much about the weapon in his hand. The Colonel was wondering about the language, he didn't recognize it as Goa'uld, or English, or any of the Earth languages _, "what have you done? What is this place?!"_

Then came the second surprise.

The phone in the corner rang, leading the Colonel to rush towards it while the unidentified man glared at him, and then at the Marines who had their weapons aimed directly at him. The Colonel picked up the receiver, and his eyes widened when he heard the results of the scan that the internal sensors had just taken of the man.

"He's not a replicator?" asked the Colonel into the phone, "are you sure?"

The Captain manning the rear scanner console on the bridge told him that the man had nanites in what appeared to be blood. They had only read the nanites using the external scanners, which could have been compromised because of the intense radiation being given out by the gas giant. The Colonel was told that the radiation was harmless to them since the hull was keeping it out, but the scans showed that the man in front of them had silica pathways throughout his body that were already degraded.

"So he's not human?" asked the Colonel into the phone while he looked at the man before him.

"No, sir." The Captain who was manning the scanning station in the rear of the bridge told him, "and he's not a replicator either."

" _I demand to know where I am! And how I got here!"_ demanded the man as he raised his weapon _, "tell me or I will shoot you!"_

"Put your weapon down!" ordered the Colonel while pointing at the weapon, and then motioning his hand towards the floor. He continued to repeat that same action while he was telling the man to put the weapon down; instead, the mysterious man continued to aim the weapon at them. The Colonel, who was still on the phone, asked the Captain to relay a command to the Major who was to the left of the Command Chair, "tell him to contact the SGC via an encrypted subspace channel, report to General Landry that we found Miss Mal Doran, and we have a guest speaking an unknown language. Ask him to get one of the SGC's linguists on the line."

"Understood, sir."

Back in the ring room, the Colonel put the phone down before approaching the mysterious man.

"I know you don't understand me," said the Colonel calmly as he pointed at the man who was looking around at his grey metallic surroundings, and then he looked at the ring platform before looking at the Colonel once again. The Colonel pointed at the weapon that was being aimed at him, and then motioned towards the floor, "put the weapon down. And then we'll talk."

" _You're Colonials speaking in code, aren't you?"_ demanded the man in Colonial Standard before he spun around again, surprised at his surroundings, and then turned to the Colonel _, "you can't stop what's about to happen. Wherever you've brought me.. however you've brought me here, won't help you! Humanity's children are coming, and in thirty minutes.. we'll bring the wrath of God on the Colonies."_

"Hey!" shouted the Colonel as the mysterious man placed the muzzle of his gun under his chin, "stop!"

" _I will die and the resurrect!"_ screamed the man _, "my consciousness will transfer to another body and we'll come here and capture this Colonial vessel and…."_

"Fire!" yelled Colonel Emerson as one of the Marines fire a zat blast that went through the shield. It hit the surprised man who dropped the weapon as blue energy crackled all over his body before he collapsed onto the ground. The Colonel rushed to the phone and ordered the shield brought down, "and get me a medical team to the ring room, now!"

TBC

 


	3. Chapter 3

**Riverwalk, Caprica City, Caprica, thirty minutes later.**

Colonel Mitchell, Tara, and Buffy were separated as they traversed the Riverwalk, an area were numerous residents of Caprica City seemed to congregate. It had had been nearly ten minutes since the group of six Earthers arrived at the Caprica City station. They then got off the train, headed down to the gates in the lower level of the elevated station, went through the gates, and into the bustling city itself. Colonel Mitchel and the others were extremely impressed with the city; he recalled looking at the skyline, complete with skyscrapers of concrete and glass, as well as ships taking off and landing, with Willow and the others also watching the ships as the high speed train made its way towards the city.

Once out of the station, the Colonel took out the map they had taken from the museum, and then selected the best places that they could head towards. Colonel Mitchell, Buffy, and Tara, opted for the Riverwalk where some of the government buildings such as the President's office were located, while Willow and the others opted for the Greystone Campus, and some of the Ministries that were located only a few blocks away.

"Then I really wanna check out this Athena Academy place," the redhead spoke with a smirk on her face while looking at the map. She then looked up at the chuckling Tara and Satterfield before shrugging her shoulders and saying that the academy was using her Ancient name, "so might as well go check it out. Think I could file for trademark infringement?"

"You're enjoying this aren't you, ma'am," chuckled Grogan.

"A little bit," said Willow as she brought her right hand up, and pinched her thumb and forefinger close to each other.

With a chuckle, and then followed by a nod of their heads, the six of them separated into two groups of three. Connected through their subspace radio's, they were to remain in contact with each other at all times; with check-ins every hour.

It had been nearly five minutes of walking, after sending the previous five on selecting where they should go, before Colonel Mitchell, Tara, and Buffy, arrived at the entrance to the Riverwalk. The entire area was full of Colonials who were walking around the park, while others were having lunch on some of the benches alongside the reflecting pools, while others were looking through items at the various vendors who were selling their wares from small stalls.

"Wow," breathed Tara as the three of them walked towards the crowd.

Colonel Mitchell was the one who told them that since they came here to get an idea of Colonial culture, mingling with the people in the Riverwalk would be a good place start. The three of them then separated, but still remained close-by. They were looking at the various wares; from small picture paintings, to pottery, to miniature statues of the Ancient Greek gods, to shaped glass, to food, and other items. Tara, Buffy, and Colonel Mitchell were getting excited about the possibilities of what these people could have to share with Earth in terms of culture. Colonel Mitchell suspected that this wasn't all they had; he had seen that there were more museums in Caprica city itself, but now for… this little slice of Colonial life was enough to get a gist on what the Colonial culture was about before heading off to the nearby Government offices.

In the meantime, in high orbit over Caprica, the nightmare had already begun.

Fourteen star-shaped ships blinked into view before approaching the planet below. The Battlestars, the Colonial Military's powerhouses- a combination of a battleship and an aircraft carrier, moved into action against the intruders.

The creation of the Colonials, the Cylons, had come home.

It had taken seconds for the star-shaped ships, known as Basestars, to emit a signal that activated a backdoor into the Colonial Military's Combat Navigation Program; something that was installed into nearly every modern Battlestar. The backdoor allowed a virus through the CNP, which infected the Colonial systems on their Battlestars, their vipers, their raptors, even every civilian ship that had the CNP installed was in danger; eventually all of them were shut down.

No-one knew what hit them.

It was absolute carnage in orbit as Colonial ships were picked off one by one by some of the Basestars, while the others prepared to move into the atmosphere. Flying into the atmosphere of the planet below, the ships prepared to fire nuclear weapons that had already been targeted at various parts of the planet below. Their primary target was Caprica City, and a fifty megaton nuclear warhead was fired in short order at the city. And then the other targets were immediately fired upon.

Back at the Riverwalk, Tara was looking at a statue of Aurora, goddess of the dawn, when she felt a ripple of energy go through her body. She looked at her arms which had goosebumps, whilst the hair on the back of her neck rose up and a chill went up her spine. Everything seemed to move in slow motion for her, as the sounds of laughter and people talking vanished into the background while she looked around.

She had felt something like this before. More than two years ago.

It was the day that the Russian Colonel arrived at the SGC with Anubis in tow. She felt it right before she was possessed; she felt Anubis access her mind and then discover her abilities, as well as Willow's. She remembered watching, trapped in her own mind, as she used a zat on Colonel Carter and then destroyed the device she was working on to block Willow's Ancient abilities and Tara's magic; the same device that Willow had insisted the Colonel create so that her abilities were not abused in case Tara's nightmare about Willow being possessed by Anubis came true.

Ironically, that's exactly what happened a few minutes later, and the weapon that could have stopped the redhead had been destroyed.

Tara remembered as Anubis turned the Zat on herself after walking into Willow's lab, at the same time using her magic to hold the redhead still. Tara remembered getting zatted before Anubis took possession of Willow; after which he nearly destroyed the SGC singlehandedly if not for Buffy keeping her distracted.

So this feeling she had now was really the same as before; she knew it was a feeling of dread.

Not seeing anything at her eye level, she looked up into the sky and her eyes widened in fear as she saw multiple streaks flying through the air; and the feeling of dread grew.

"Willow!" screamed Tara into the headset before running through the throngs of people towards Buffy and Colonel Mitchel, "take cover! Cam! Buffy!"

Colonel Mitchell and Buffy heard the scream on their headset, and in the open, as they turned towards Tara who was running towards them. They saw Colonials looking at Tara as if she was mad, with some screaming at her to 'watch it' as she ran past them.

"Tara?" asked Buffy as she and the colonel ran towards her just before she yelped, and covered her eyes. As did the Colonel upon the bright flash covered the sky.

Time again flowed slowly for the blonde witch as she ran towards her friends. She knew she was already close enough for what she had to do once she saw the reflection of the bright flash on the still pool of water to her left. Tara knew she couldn't use her magic to save an entire world; she knew that much in her heart, which was racing in her chest. She also knew that she couldn't save everyone on the Riverwalk either, all she could do… as her hands blue glowed with Caprica's magic, was save those around her immediate area. She stopped when Buffy and the Colonel, as well as fourteen other people came into her magic's range. Tara felt one death after another as a bright blue circle surrounded the eight of them while, at the same time, a blue coloured, magical domed shield rose to cover them. Just as a firestorm surrounded them.

Buffy and Colonel Mitchell stood in stunned silence as they watched people outside the dome screaming as they burned. The shield was connected to Caprica's magic as cars and trees, and parts of buildings, and human bodies smashed against it harmlessly. Tara held her hands out, tears in her eyes, as she felt the deaths of the people around her while she heard, through the rush of blood behind her ears, of Buffy and Colonel Mitchell calling out for Willow, Satterfield, and Grogan through the headsets.

And then there came a loud boom, and then the pressure waves that fuelled the fires and crashed against the shield. Tara had her eyes closed shut while concentrated on reinforcing the shield with magic, while the others could only stand helplessly. The sound made by the storm outside, however, didn't drown out the cries of terror and sorrow from the Colonials coming from within the dome.

It was only a few seconds before the firestorm that Willow, Grogan, and Satterfield heard Tara's scream through their headsets, and then they saw the burst of light in the sky. Without a word between them, Willow and the others ducked into what they later found was an electronics store with several customers who were panicked when they heard the loud 'boom', and then the buildings started to shake while they tried to keep their balance. Willow and the others didn't know what was going on, not until she felt fear- while her Ancient gene and her cloned body gave her the abilities of a near ascended Ancient, her Furling gene was just like Tara's… it gave her the ability to easily harness magic, and a range of emphatic abilities. With Tara being the resident witch and 'good-luck' charm on SG-1, the redhead fell out of magic use, having not trained for years. Her empathic abilities, however, were still active and currently under a great deal of assault. She could feel the horror of the people who were scrambling for a safe place to hide, she felt their fear and desperation while two thoughts went through their minds… 'cylon' and 'nuke'.

And then it came.

Fire and destruction.

Willow saw people running towards the store while she screamed at Satterfield and Grogan to get everyone to the rear, away from the front of the store which was entirely made out of glass. She could hear the sounds of men and women screaming, as well as children crying from behind her while taking a deep breath. She leaned forward with one leg to brace herself while she raised her arms forward and pulled up a telekinetic shield that covered the entirety of the front of the store, just behind the glass. She saw the glass door open just as the people running in were blocked by the shield from coming in. Willow could read their terror as they looked at her in horror just as they were burned away by a firestorm a second after opening the door. The redhead closed her eyes in shame, and screamed out in pain when the glass shattered. Her mind was burning as she struggled to keep the fires that were pushing against the shield from coming into the store.

Satterfield and Grogan could only watch helplessly while using themselves as shields for the twenty people inside the store. They watched as Willow was pushed back due to the pressure wave fuelling the firestorm. Grogan and Satterfield heard her howl in pain once again as she was forced back one more time while they watched blood dripping onto the floor as the entire shop shook. They saw cars, people, and various other debris fly by while some of the buildings outside shook as their top floors collapsed onto the street below. They even saw large chucks of debris, for what they could only assume were from the top floors of the building they were in, fall right in front of what used to be the window. More and more debris fell until they were nearly covered in darkness, and the howling of the wind outside stopped.

"Captain!" screamed Satterfield as Willow collapsed onto her knees, and then onto her side, with blood flowing out of her nose and ears. Grogan kneeled beside Willow and quickly reached down with his fingers and felt for a pulse while Satterfield went to her headset and called for Colonel Mitchell, but there was no response.

However, Grogan did breathe a sigh of relief before telling Satterfield that Willow had a pulse, but it was weak.

"Which means she's going to heal," panted Satterfield before looking behind at the customers who were looking at them with terrified expressions on their faces. She looked at Grogan, and then back at the customers before speaking in Ancient Greek, "My name is Lt. Lauren Satterfield, this is Lt. Carl Grogan, and this woman here is Captain Willow Rosenberg. And right now, we need to know if you have any medical supplies here. A first aid kit?"

"A… a what?"

"What.. what is she?" asked a terrified woman who pointed at the unconscious Willow.

"She's the one who saved our hides!" yelled Grogan, "do you have any medical supplies?"

"N.. no," said an older man who looked to be in his mid-fifties standing behind the counter. They could see that his arm was shaking, so Satterfield turned to Grogan, and asked him to check everyone for injuries, and that she'll ty to contact Colonel Mitchell.

Back on the Riverwalk, Tara dropped the domed shield, and then turned to look at all the destruction around them. They could see fires raging in various places around them while they covered their noses from the smoke that was rising into the sky. However, they were able to hear screams from the intact sections of the buildings that surrounded them, but everyone who had been out in the open was dead.

"Satterfield?" asked the Colonel as he pressed down on his headset while Tara tore herself away from the horror around her to look at the Colonel, as did Buffy while some the Colonials who were safe in the dome ran into the surrounding areas to look for their loved ones, while two of them stood still just either putting their hands on the top of their heads, or over their mouths, looking around in shock. But the most heart-breaking moment for the three SG-1 members were the three children calling out for their parents. Tara looked at Buffy, and then at the Colonel who had his hand on his forehead while looking around in shock, the shock quickly dissipating when he tapped onto his ear set which was receiving a message, as were they all. It was a broken message from Satterfield. She rushed to the Colonel when he tried to hear what Satterfield was saying, "repeat… Satterfield. Satterfield?"

"Colonel, sir," said Satterfield over her headset while Grogan was trying to reassure the other customers that he was only checking them for injuries, "Colonel can you hear me? Lt. Grogan and I are safe, Captain Rosenberg's injured.. badly."

"How bad?" asked the Colonel as he looked at Tara just as he heard buzzing sounds from above as five silver planes flew overhead. The Colonel told everyone to stay low and use the debris, smoke, and fires as cover while he and Buffy took out their Zats. Tara yelled towards the people who had ran out earlier from the dome, and were now simply just walking among the ruins dazed, and told them that they needed to leave.

But they just walked aimlessly in shock.

"You!" yelled Buffy as she rushed forwards and grabbed the shoulders of a young man standing there in the circle while more of the silver planes flew by overhead, "what's your name?"

Buffy shook the young man while Colonel Mitchell picked up one of the younger children into his arms, and Tara did the same for a little boy about five years old who was crying out for his father. While Buffy was doing her best to get through to the young man, Colonel Mitchell rushed to a middle-aged woman who was just looking out into space. He and Tara rushed up to her and shook her shoulders.

"Miss… Miss.." yelled the Colonel as the woman looked at him, her eyes showing how confused she was at what just happened.

"What's your name?" asked Tara gently, while Buffy was asking the young man the same thing, "Miss, what's your name?"

Seeing that Tara had the woman handled, the Colonel looked up as two larger ships flew by, and then he rushed to Buffy. IN the meantime, Tara told the woman that they were here to help, but she needed her name.

"Cal… Carol… Carolanne Adama," The woman struggled to speak as she looked at Tara, and then at the surroundings, and then back at Tara again, "I.. I…."

"We need to get out of here," said the Colonel as he looked up at the sky, "I don't know if those ships are good or bad, so until we know for sure, I suggest getting out of here."

"Satterfield!" whispered Buffy into the headset while the Colonel took over in bringing the young man who Buffy was struggling with, to the land of the conscious, while Tara was telling Carolanne that she needed her to pick up the other child, and then they needed to leave, "where are you?"

"At an electronics store, a five-minute walk from the train station. The entrance is blocked by debris, Captain," said Satterfield while looking at the entirety of the blocked entrance, "we're not going anywhere."

"Cam!" yelled Tara looking up into the sky, as two more ships, larger than the planes, flew overhead past them and then came around, "we need to leave."

"Move!" yelled the Colonel into the young man's face. Jerking back into consciousness, the young man looked around just as Buffy grabbed onto his sleeve, and using her strength, pulled him while she ran, followed by Carolanne who was holding onto a crying little girl, and then Tara and her charge, and finally Colonel Mitchell took up the rear while one of the children. They were using the rising smoke, fires, and debris as cover while they headed to Satterfield's location.

**The Avalon, orbit over unidentified station, thirty minutes earlier.**

Colonel Emerson had already contacted the General immediately after the mysterious man was placed in the infirmary, under heavy guard. Once he was placed on the bed, the doctors on board started scans while the Colonel ran to the bridge.

"Connect me to the SGC, now," barked the Colonel as he approached a screen on the port side of the ship. He waited until General Landry's face popped up before he nodded his head at his Commanding Officer. The Colonel told the General about what happened only a few minutes ago in regards to the station they found, and the dishevelled man they had in their infirmary who had nanites in his blood stream, as well as silica in his brain that was eroding away. It was the mention of nanites that surprised General Landry.

As well as the confirmation that the man wasn't a replicator.

"Sir," said the Colonel before the General could say anything else, "I'm sending you a data-burst. It's a video of the man I told you about, sir. He was speaking in a language I didn't recognize, maybe one of the linguists at the SGC could find out what he was saying.

"Understood," said the General nodding his head while Colonel Emerson pointed at a crew member in the rear of the bridge, and ordered him to send the video via subspace data-burst back to the SGC.

**Stargate Command, Control Room, at that same time.**

"We have it, sir," said Walter looking over his shoulder at General Landry. The General then nodded his head at Walter before looking up at the screen that had Colonel Emerson's face, and told the man that they received the video. The SGC Base Commander then told Colonel Emerson that he'll have the translation teams look through the video, and then get back to him.

"You'll know something once we know something, Colonel," said the General, "Landry out."

Once the screen had turned off, General Landry turned to Walter and told him to have the video sent to the translation team. Walter nodded his head before he turned to his console and pressed some buttons. Once it was confirmed that the video had been sent out, General Landry sighed before heading up the stairs leading to the briefing room, and then to his office.

It would be an hour later that a young man and woman in SGC BDU's ran into the General's office without knocking, an act that made the man frown as he stood up.

"Sir," panted the young woman, her face showing a deep worry that made the General stop his rebuke before she even started it, "sorry, about barging in but…"

"We have a problem," said the young man, "sir, this… whatever this is…"

"Sir," said the young woman interrupting the man, "the man on the Avalon, he's speaking in Ancient Greek."

"Ancient Greek?" asked the General, "is it.."

"Sir, we…" said the both of them in frustration, interrupting the General.

"Dr. Halsey, Dr. Kramer," barked the General as the two linguists shook their heads. He could see that parts of their bodies were trembling as Dr. Halsey handed him a piece of paper. The General took the piece of paper, and then started to read it while the two of them told the man that what he was reading was the translation of what the man on the Avalon had said. The General's eyes opened wide as he read the translation, and then looked up at the two linguists, one of whom had her hands covering her mouth, while the other one hand his hands on the top of his head. The both of them looking at the General with deep worry in their eyes.

"Follow me!" said the General as he rushed out of his office and headed past the briefing room, his mind rushing with the information he had just learned, and hoping that the feeling of dread that he was getting at the pit of his stomach after reading the translation was wrong.

How much he hoped he was wrong as he dashed down the stairs with the two linguists in tow. He had his front line team, along with three of the SGC's biggest guns, on another world; and that thought made him sick to his stomach as he remembered the translated words of what the man on the Avalon said.

Once reaching the control room, General Landry ordered Walther to dial the planet that SG-1 had been conducting their mission. Walter nodded his head as he dialled the planet while the General told the two linguists that SG-1 had travelled to a world that used Ancient Greek. The two linguists looked at each other in worry; that worry increased when Walter said that the seventh chevron wasn't locking.

"Run a diagnostic, and try again!" barked the General as Walter turned to his screen, and then typed some commands on the keyboard. They waited a tense two minutes while the diagnostic was running, and when there was no problem on the SGC's side, Walther dialled again.

"Chevron Seven… will not lock," said Walter as everyone looked at the idle Stargate.

"Get me, Colonel Emerson, now!"

TBC.

 


	4. Chapter 4

**Caprica City, Caprica, ten minutes after nuclear detonation.**

Buffy took point with a zat in her hand, with the young man carrying one of the children behind her, along with Tara, who was holding onto a Zat and carrying a child. Behind her was Carolanne who was carrying the third child who was whimpering in her arms while Colonel Mitchell took the rear with a Zat in his hand. The group had gone through smoke and debris that littered the area, passing by burnt and dismembered bodies, while silver planes were flying overhead. They Earthers told the Colonials that they were members of the Colonial military, and this was their first time spending their leave on Caprica.

"You have never come to the city? Not even once?" asked Carolanne when they were in a littered alleyway between two nearly collapsed buildings. They had been making their way closer, and closer to the train station thanks to guidance from the Colonial citizens. And now they had reached an alleyway that looked out to the main street, with the train stations… now partly collapsed on the ground, on the other side. The Colonel nodded his head while Tara looked up as a larger plane flew past them, and then stopped over the street.

Buffy signalled for them to stop, and keep quiet, as she peeked out the side of the alleyway and watched the larger plane land vertically onto the street, which itself was littered with cars, sections of the stations railways, bodies… it looked like a war zone. Once it landed, the blonde Slayer looked on as five six-foot tall chromed robots walked out. However, it wasn't the sight of the robots that stunned Buffy… instead, it was the sight of two similar looking Asian women walking out the rear door, followed by a blonde haired male, and two blonde women… both of them tall and looked enough to be models. But Buffy's eyes went back to the two Asian woman, and then she went back into the alleyway.

"Ummmm…" she said looking at Tara, "Lauren doesn't happen to have twins.. or triplets, does she?"

"Why?" asked Colonel Mitchell. Buffy was about to answer when she looked back over her shoulder at the main street while she put up her hand. She then turned to the Colonel and the others upon hearing heavy footsteps with her enhanced hearing and told everyone to use the debris as cover. Buffy and the young man, carrying one of the children, hid behind a large piece of metal and concrete while the others hid as well as they could.

Carolanne was hidden behind another piece of debris with Colonel Mitchell. She saw the man activated a strange weapon before he used one foot to pivot himself. When his back was once to the debris, he was now facing it, and peeking out the side as two tall metallic robots with a red 'eye' that roved from one end of its head to the other stopped at the entrance to the alleyway. It was soon joined by something was unbelievable to t eh Colonel as he realized why Buffy had asked him that particular question about Satterfield.

Colonel Mitchell gasped when he saw a copy of Satterfield walking up to the two robots as more planes flew overhead to various parts of the city. He then saw a blonde woman walking up the Satterfield clone while hearing Carolanne panting hard. The Colonel turned to the woman and whispered that she was going to be safe. The woman looked at him as she wiped her nose, and with tears in her eyes, before saying that all of them had just been attacked by the Cylons.

"They've come… come back to finish us," said Carolanne as her voice broke while Tara, who was at another location, peeked at the robots who were just standing there. To her, they seemed to be scanning the area. Tara closed her eyes and concentrated, she could feel the fear that was coming off the Colonials who were with her, Colonel Mitchel, and Buffy.. but she could also feel the fear from people… people who were buried but alive, or badly injured in the buildings close to them.

They were all afraid.

Suddenly, the fear and terror had gotten to the children.. and it became too much for them. One of them started to sob, as did the others. Carolanne, Tara, and the young man did everything they could to quieten them down. But they were ultimately unsuccessful as the heavy footsteps walked into the alleyway.

"Come on out!" yelled a female voice that the Earthers knew belonged to the Satterfield copy. The Colonel turned to Carolanne who was trembling while the child in her arms was crying. The Colonel tried to calm the woman by gently telling her that everything was going to be okay. He then took a peek around the side of the piece of debris, and saw that the right wrist of the chrome robots were hanging off the arm, and a three barrelled weapon was pointed at him.

"Let the women and children go!" yelled the Colonel as the Satterfield clone smiled, and then looked at the robot next to her. The Colonel ducked, as did the others, when the robot started to fire its weapon while the other one just stood still,,, looking straight ahead, leading Carolanne to scream, and the children to cry louder and harder. It was then that the group heard footsteps coming the other way, from the other side of the alley.

Buffy and Tara looked on in surprise as three more of the robots thundered in while aiming their weapons at the group. With them were two old men, and a bald dark skinned man in a suit.

The three members of SG-1, and the Colonials, were surrounded.

"You're all surrendering," said one of the old men, "don't worry, you're not the only humans we're sparing… most of the others are already being killed by extermination squads. We're keeping a few for… entertainment."

"Umm…." said the Colonel as he stood up with his hands up, as did Buffy and Tara, after she put the child she was carrying down, and told him gently to stay by her side at all times, "that's a bit ominous, don't you think? Umm.. Tara?"

"Yeah?" asked the blonde as she looked at the Colonel after the quietly crying child nodded his head while wiping his eyes. She then turned towards the humanoids standing alongside the robots, and then back at the Colonel.

"You sense anything?" asked the Colonel while the humanoids looked on confused at the exchange going on before them.

"No emotions," said Tara with a smirk on her lips as she looked at the humanoid looking beings standing in front of her, and then over her shoulder at the two standing in front of Buffy, "no fear, no curiosity, no anger, no happiness, no nothing."

"So not alive then?" asked Buffy who had her hand up as well, all the while she was inching towards an exposed rebar that was sticking out of the large chunk of debris that she and the young man, along with the child, were hiding behind.

"So, just to confirm," asked the Colonel nonchalantly at the old men, and the man in the suit, "I mean you are going to kill us anyway… I mean that's how every movie like this goes. So might as well just clue us in on something, are you guys alive?"

"He's nuts," hissed the young man as he looked up at Buffy, while the old men looked at the Colonel curiously. The Slayer saw that the Humanoids and the robots, that were in front of her, were distracted by the Colonel's question. So she slowly grabbed the rebar, which had one end buried in the concrete, with her left hand, while her right hand was still up and holding on to the Zat. She didn't do anything as her fingers tightened around the metal since she saw more robots walking past the alleyway while scanning the area for survivors. It was then that she, and the others, heard screams in the distance… followed by gun shots.

The three Earthers looked at each other, and then nodded their heads as Buffy jerked the rebar towards her. The brown coloured metallic bar, and sections of the concrete came off the large chunk of debris while the young man could only look on with his mouth wide open. He then looked up at Buffy who was glaring at the robots, before whispering 'how the frack did you do that'. The robots, however, upon hearing the noise of the concrete breaking, pointed their weapons at the blonde.

"Surrender, or she dies," said the one who looked like Satterfield.

"Seriously?" asked Buffy with a sigh, "you're all non-alive and that's the best you can come up with? 'Surrender or she dies?' Really? That gets old real fast and… and I'm telling you I've heard every single glorified bad guy say that to me since I was in high school."

"Summers," frowned the Colonel as the Satterfield clone and her friends looked on confused, wondering what the blonde was talking about.

"The Master, Spike, Angelus, name it… sheesh," complained Buffy as the second robot that stood still in front of Buffy, turned towards her and aimed its weapon.

"Tara?" said the Colonel as he nodded towards the old men, the suited man, and the robots that flanked them, think you can…. You know.. protect us a bit?"

"Yeah," whispers Tara while she put her hands down and arched an eyebrow at the robots that had turned and aimed their weapons at her. Gripping her zat tight, while the child behind her watched with eyes that were wide open in surprise as the hand that Tara put behind her back glowed blue. She looked over her shoulder at the robots that were aiming at Buffy while the Satterfield clone, and the blonde in the red dress, took a step forward and told them not to be stupid.

"Yeah… well," said the Colonel as he nodded at Tara as she flicked her wrist, and an energy field rose up along the walls of the two buildings that flanked the alleyway. The stunned humanoids ordered the robots to fire just as Tara turned around and waved her hand at the robots facing Buffy. Just as the robots facing them opened fire, only for the rounds to hit an invisible wall, Buffy gripped the rebar tight in her hand and she ordered the young man to keep the child close to him. The robots facing her were pushed back and fell onto the ground, taking advantage of the robots being distracted, Buffy ran as fast as she could… surprising the Satterfield clone and the red dressed woman at her speed.

While Tara and the Colonel fired their zats on the robots, and the old men, and the suited dark skinned man multiple times, Buffy rolled under the punch of the Satterfield clone before swinging the rebar and then smashing into the back of her knees. The clone gasped in pain as she felt her legs being swept from under her before she fell onto the ground. Buffy then punched her jaw before getting up in a swift motion before she ran to the robots which had gotten back on their feet.

"Yeah, you're no Ted," said Buffy before smashing the concrete section of the rebar against the side of one of the robot's head. She then caught a glimpse of the robots that the Colonel and Tara were shooting at, vanish before she stabbed the rebar into the robot just as the second one was hit by a bolt of blue energy. Raising its arm to fire at Tara, Buffy used all her strength to get a good grip on the arm of the robot that she just stabbed with the rebar, and then swung it while grunting, into the second robot.

The red dressed woman was then hit by a blue bolt of energy just as Buffy took out her Zat and shot at the two robots that where on the floor, trying to get up. She shot four more times until the robots vanished.

"What the frack?" asked Carolanne as she was helped up by the Colonel who looked around, and then rushed to Buffy, with Tara and her charge holding onto her hands. Buffy was panting before turning towards the groaning Satterfield clone, while Tara and the Colonel peeked out into the main street where they noticed more of the robots patrolling down the street, with some going into buildings.

"What.. what are.. you," whined the Satterfield clone as she looked at Buffy with tears of pain in her eyes, "why…"

"Oh," said the Colonel as he stood over the clone, "that's what we wanted to ask you. And we will get some answers."

"Cam," said Tara as Buffy and Tara looked up at her, "we have more incoming."

Buffy and the Colonel looked around their surrounding area, and the Colonel smiled while Buffy's face dropped. He pointed at Tara, and then at the red dressed woman while he ran to something he had seen.

"Come on," said the Colonel waving them over as he ran to the middle of the alley, towards a black coloured circular object in the ground. Tara atomized the blonde in the red dress, just as she and the Colonel had done the old men and the man in the suit; along with the robots. Grumbling under her breath that she'll be needing a shower once she gets home, Buffy punched the Satterfield clone again, before picking her up. The Slayer put the Satterfield clone on her shoulder before following the Colonel.. and the other Colonials underground into the sewer.

As more centurions walked past the now empty alleyway, they never noticed the manhole cover being placed back to it's original spot.

**Electronics Store, Caprica City, ten minutes later.**

Satterfield breathed a sigh of relief once Willow, whose bleeding had stooped and was now groaning in pain, opened her eyes and whispered, "please someone tell me they got the truck that hit me."

"Captain," said Satterfield while she helped Willow, who was wiping the remained blood away from her nose, sit up. The dark haired officer was soon joined by Grogan who had been checking for injuries on the customers who were still huddled in the back. Satterfield looked at him, and then at Willow before asking if she was completely healed.

"Getting there," mumbled Willow as she rubbed the sides of her head before she took off her blood stained jacket. She threw it to one side, and then was helped up by her fellow officers. In a pair of jeans and a red blouse, with a zat in its holster on her hip, the redhead bean back down on her knees and breathed.

"Ho.. how did… did you…" asked one of the frightened women in the rear. Willow turned to face her while she was still bent down. She could sense her fear, he uncertainty about what just happened… both in terms of the blast outside and what Willow did to protect them. She was sensing similar levels of fear from the other Colonial customers.

"Nothing to be afraid of," she rasped while standing up and holding onto Satterfield's shoulder, "we're going to be alright. I… I think that was a nuclear blast and.. and we'll have help coming soon."

"For now we're trapped though," said Grogan nodding at the heavy debris blocking the entire front entrance. Willow looked around the building and frowned before saying that she couldn't tell how much of the upper floors had collapsed.

_Willow: "I think we're really lucky so far, but I have a bad feeling that this entire place could go soon."_

"How do we get out?" asked Grogan when he was interrupted by a noise in his headset.

"Red… red… do you copy?"

"Colonel?" asked Willow as she tapped her earpiece, "I… I copy."

"You're healed?" asked the Colonel who was standing on a ladder while the others were standing under him. The man opened the manhole cover slightly and looked out, finding himself in another alleyway that looked out to a patrol of robots and humanoids that were in front of a building where the top floors had collapsed onto itself, with some of the debris blocking the entrance.

"Yes, sir," said Willow, "but shielding against the firestorm took a lot out of me."

It was just then that the group heard scratching sounds from outside, as if debris were being moved. They then heard voices saying that help is coming soon.

"Come quick!" screamed the Colonials inside while Grogan and Satterfield told the Colonel that help was right outside.

"We're here! Help!" screamed more of the people while the Colonel, in a serious tone, told the three officers inside the store that the 'helpers' were in reality robots; the same robots responsible for attacking the planet.

"These guys, the Colonials, call them Cylons," said the Colonel, something that made Willow frown. Satterfield and Grogan noticed the frown, but before they could ask anything, a ray of sunshine beamed in from outside after a chunk of debris was removed. The Colonials surged forward shouting for help, hoping to be heard now that their rescuers were nearly close.

"Sir," whispered Willow, while Satterfield and Grogan pushed the Colonials back. But they refused to be pushed back as the two officers were pushed aside, and the Colonials surged forward once again pushing the debris from inside, while other slapped the debris as hard as they could to create noise while shouting for help. While Willow asked the Colonel how many robots were outside, Satterfield and Grogan were telling the Colonials inside that they had information from their superior officer that the 'help' outside were Cylon robots; something that made a few of the Colonials cry out in horror.

"You have six robots, and five humanoid... things…," said the Colonel, while Willow repeated what he said out loud in the store, as he hid behind an upturned dumpster, and peeked out it's sides while Willow was asking what he meant by 'humanoid'. The Cylons backs were to him, before he looked back at Tara who was peeking out from under the manhole cover. He pointed his finger to the wall, and then made a signal that told her to run to the wall of the building close to them, and then crouch down and run over to his location. Nodding her head, Tara waited for the signal, and then once she was clear… the blonde witch moved the cover to one side and ran to the wall. She leaned her back on it while crouching down and then headed for the Colonel. The Colonel then peeked towards the store, and the Cylons that were still moving debris with the humanoids watched on.

Colonel Mitchell tapped on Tara's arm as she waved the young man over who, once he was out, was handed one of the children by Buffy. Grabbing the little boy, he then hugged the wall and headed to Tara. The Colonel tapped Tara's hand while taking out, and then activating his Zat. While the others, including the Satterfield clone, who had been threatened by Buffy to follow their orders or her arms would be ripped off slowly made their way out of the sewers and onto the surface.

Buffy being the last one out, still grumbling as she grabbed the collar of the Satterfield clone. The clone tried to push the blonde off her, but realised very quickly that she wouldn't be successful. Especially when Buffy pressed down in her chest, making her gasp out loud, while she was asking the Colonel if he saw anything else outside.

"One of the larger ships," said the Colonel as he leaned out of the side of the dumpster just enough to see what looked like a silver Armoured Personnel Carrier. He then turned to the gasping Satterfield clone and asked her if she could fly the ship.

"Well?" asked Buffy while Willow was telling them, through their ear pieces, that the Cylons were really close now.

"You help us?" said the Colonel, "we don't kill you. Besides, I think I know someone who'd like to have a word with you."

"Or I can just… you know," said Buffy as she glared at the Satterfield clone, "just press a little bit harder, and then I break your rib-cage."

"You.. you kill me, and my consciousness will transfer to another body," said the clone as Buffy and the others frowned, while the Satterfield clone started to chuckle, "the ones you already killed? They must have told the others about you and.. and you have nowhere to go in a few minutes."

"Red," said the Colonel as he nodded looked at the robots once again, "can you use your powers?"

"I'm kinda exhausted, sir," said Willow as the terrified Colonials were moved back by Satterfield and Grogan, "preventing the firestorm from coming into the store took a lot out of me, I can't concentrate enough to use my T.K, or either energy projections. I can try but, I'll be beyond exhausted."

"Do what you can, Red. You're going to have a little problem soon," said the Colonel as he watched the robots throwing the debris away to one side, "you've got one more layer to go… the Zats will work on the robots, you just need to shoot at them three times…each."

"Got it," said the redhead as she took out her zat, as did the others.

"Whatever you do," said the Colonel as he activated his zat, as did Buffy and Tara, "keep Satterfield with you at all times. How's your empathic abilities?"

"Those are always active, sir," said Willow as she looked at Satterfield with confusion on her face, "and why do I need to keep Satterfield close, sir?"

"One of the humanoid.. things, look just like her," said the Colonel as he waved Tara over. While Willow and Satterfield were silently mouthing 'what?' to each other, the Colonel saw three more ships flying overhead. It was then that the Satterfield clone laughed, saying that they were finished.

"Not yet," said Buffy.

"Red," said the Colonel as Tara crouched next to him, peeking out the side of the dumpster as well, "Tara's gonna put a one-way magical shield at the entrance; you take them out from the shop while Tara and Buffy uses the distraction to take your clone and 'borrow' the ship that's right outside. She'll put a shield around it while you guys, and anyone else inside the shop runs into the ship. Understood?"

"Got it, sir," said Willow as another piece of debris was moved, revealing a clawed, tall robot.

"Now," said the Colonel as Tara raised a shield that covered the front of the store, while Willow, Satterfield, and Grogan fired their zats from inside. At the same time, the Satterfield clone was pulled by Buffy into the ship, with Tara behind her as she kept the shield up, and then raised another one that covered the ship when the three larger personnel carrying ships that had zipped by earlier, started to fire at the ship. The Colonel then fired at the humanoids from behind, dropping them to the ground instantly.

Back in the store, Willow and the others were firing at each of the robots, which were firing back at them, but hitting the shield. It wasn't long before the front of the store was clear, and two more ships joined the earlier three in firing on the shielded personnel carrier. Buffy was holding onto the Satterfield clone inside the ship who was asked what was going on, and why the rounds fired by the hovering ships weren't hitting them.

"You should all be dead," said the stunned clone.

Once the robots were atomized, to the surprise of the Colonials inside, Willow and the others fired up at the ships with their zats. Proving useless as two of the ships started to fire at the shop. It was something that Tara had noticed so she raised the shield that blocked the building to a higher level. With the sounds of thunder all around her, Tara silently willed that everyone gets on the ship safely.

"Sir!" shouted Willow into her headset while she handed Grogan her Zat, "at Satterfield's signal, run to the ship."

"Got it," said the Colonel as he waved the young man who was now holding to two of the frightened children on either side, as well as Carolanne and the child she was holding.

While Satterfield and Grogan were firing their Zats at the hovering ships, Willow opened her hands and concentrated. Smelling the odour of burning flesh, Satterfield looked back at Willow gritting her teeth. Satterfield's eyes opened wide in worry as the redhead's hands started to blister as she gathered balls of electrical energy on the palms of her hands. Satterfield and Grogan watched as the charges blistered her arms, and even created scorch marks on the sides of her blouse. A few seconds later, the charges grew a little in size as Willow yelped in pain, the yelp turning to a scream as her skin turned black and started peeling off.

"Cover your ears!" screamed Grogan as he and Satterfield covered their while the Colonials at the rear cowered in fear. They had no idea what was worse, the Cylons.. or the people who were trying to 'save' them. They heard the redhead scream before firing off an electrical charge from one hand, followed by the sound of thunder. The charge hit one of the ships, and then jumped to the other one, and the third before they crashed onto the ground. Willow then fired off another charge towards the remaining two ships, and the same thing happened as they crashed onto the ground.

"Sir!" shouted Satterfield, "move it!"

Colonel Mitchel pushed the young man, the kids, and Carolanne towards the large ship. Once within the shield, he waved towards the people who were running out of the electronics store, signalling them to head into the ship, before firing at several robots that were running towards their location. He started to fire his Zat, as did grogan who was firing two Zats at once while running towards the ship with Willow, who was being pushed along by Satterfield, while she was holding both of her severely bleeding and burnt hands close to her chest while her face was twisted in pain. The robotic Cylons started to fire at the group from the electronic store, with a few taking hits before falling in the ground dead.

"Move, move, move," said the Colonel as he looked back at Buffy, who was still holding to the Satterfield clone, who in turn was looking in shock at Satterfield. And the feeling was mutual for the young officer.

"You… who are you?" asked the clone while bullets were hitting the shield, "there's… what are you wearing and…"

"That's my question," said Satterfield as she rushed to the clone once she had seated the groaning Willow, who had tears coming out of her eyes from the pain coming from her burnt hands, to one side of the aircraft where Tara was comforting her. The other Colonials, including Carolanne, either cowered from the bullets bouncing off the shield, or where looking at the two Satterfields wondering what was going on. Satterfield grabbed the collar of the clone, and slammed her against the wall while the bullets were bouncing of the shields, and was soon joined by four of the similar sized ships.

"The shield's holding!" yelled Tara as the robots ran up to and fired point blank, while others punched into it. All without any adverse effects on the shield, "but we really need to get out of here before we're overwhelmed."

"Satterfield," yelled the Colonel as he looked back over his shoulder at Buffy holding on to Satterfield's shoulder while the latter pushed her clone to the wall of the ship.

"What did you do!?" yelled Satterfield at her clone, "you used my face to…. To nuke a planet!"

"I… I…" stuttered the clone, "how is it… I don't sense you and… how is that possible?"

"We need to go, now!" yelled Tara as she continued to comfort Willow by holding onto her as the latter cried out in pain. In the meantime, the Colonel yelled at them to do something as six more of the larger ships appeared overhead and started firing.

"What are you?" hissed Satterfield.

"Cy.. Cylon and…"

It was then that the Colonials murmured among themselves that the Cylons looked like them. One of them even pointed at Satterfield and the clone before saying that they were both Cylons.

"I'm human," said Satterfield as she looked at the Colonials, and then at her clone.

"You… you must be one of the sleeper agents," gasped the clone, "you…"

"Get us out here," said Buffy as she gently pushed Satterfield away just as she was about to punch the clone.

"I…. am… human," hissed Satterfield, "Tara!?"

"She's human," yelled the blonde while did Grogan and Colonel Mitchell continued to fire their Zats, "but you… you are a machine. You have no emotions flaring off you, you have no aura… but I can sense Lauren's emotions… she is pissed!"

"Get us out of here," Buffy gently told the clone, preferring to be the 'good cop' to Satterfield's 'bad cop', "and we'll tell you where we're from. But… you do anything funny, like take us to your leaders… well… then I will tear you limb from limb, Tara there will make sure your pieces turn into ash. Understand me?"

"Yes," said the clone.

"What's your name?" asked Buffy.

"Sha… Sharon," said the clone.

"Close the rear hatch, and then get us out of here, Sharon," said Buffy, "we need to go to the Delphi Museum of the Colonies… we need to send a message home."

"Move!" barked Satterfield as she pointed at the cockpit. Sharon ran to the cockpit and sat down, while Buffy activated her Zat and pointed to the side of her head.

"Insurance," said Buffy as the rear hatch closed up.

"We're not going anywhere with Cylons… I mean.. we don't even know who you freaks are and…" said one of the men they had just rescued, a sentiment followed by a few others.

"You want to be left here?" asked Colonel Mitchell while Tara looked at them while an eyebrow raised. When they Colonials who were mumbling among themselves suddenly went quiet, and didn't say anything.. the Colonel shook his head before saying, "that's what I thought. We're here to help you, and once we send a message home.. then we can get some proper help."

"All the Colonies have been bombed," said Sharon as she looked back, "you have no place to go. You should…"

"We not from the Colonies," said Satterfield, "doesn't matter where we're from, but we're not from here."

"Now," said Buffy as the atmosphere in the ship changed, "you ever heard of aliens using probes to scan…. Well…"

"No…" said some of the people who stood up, "you… you're aliens?"

"No way," said a few others.

"Yeah well," said the Colonel with a sigh as he decided to play along, "we've already had enough of using probes on humans. Now we'd like Cylons."

"And it's going to be very painful," said Buffy as she whispered into Sharon's ear, keeping her voice low so that the Colonials don't hear her, "we'll turn you to dust, and then examine you. Or we could stick something in you to… you know, gather information. Basically, if our home world doesn't hear from us soon… then they'll come here. And since we haven't encountered Cylons before.. well… I can see our scientists destroying your entire fleet so that we can pound you into submission before shoving probes in different places. Or, you don't do anything funny, take us where we need to go.. and we send a message home saying that there is nothing here. We go home, you do your whole murdering thing… and we keep these humans with us. What do you say?"

"I.. I'm spooling up the jump drives," whispered Sharon as she looked up at Buffy, "there are too many ships, and they'll chase us. This is the only way to lose them."

"Good girl," said Buffy as Sharon's body shook in fear at the thought of being experimented on. And if the blonde's people didn't get a message from them, then her people were going to come here; and then take the Cylons by force with powerful ships. Sharon didn't want that, but that didn't explain why there was someone who looked like her.

"Maybe they were scouting the planet," thought Sharon to herself, 'she must have seen one of my sisters, and taken her form. Yes, that makes sense… I think. What she said earlier was an act.. nothing more.'

It was a few seconds later, after the ship appeared hovering over the museum did the Colonel who along with everyone else, felt a bit sick from the jump, looked out the opened rear door of the Cylon vessel. All the while he was trying not to throw us, but what he saw made him frown. He then turned and walked back into the ship while telling Sharon to close the hatch.

"The Stargate's buried," said the Colonel as Buffy and the other SG-1 members looked at him, while the Colonials were wondering what a 'Stargate' meant. The Colonel didn't pay the mumbles any mind while telling the SG-1 members that the rear part of the museum had collapsed, "we can't get to it without heavy machinery."

"Get us out of the city," said Buffy as Sharon looked at her nervously, "look, if they don't hear from us in a little over five hours. Then they'll be sending a fleet here. If you help us, I can give you my personal guarantee that you will not be experimented on. I can't promise anything when it comes to the others though; but you will be safe."

"I'm taking us to the grasslands outside the city," said Sharon, "you give me your word?"

"Yes," said Buffy as Sharon nodded her head. The Cylon just wanted to survive at this point. She knew that if she took them to Cavil now, the old man would order experiments done on them. And by the time their people come, the six of them would be dead and she was certain that in their anger… the aliens would destroy the entire Cylon race. And take many surviving Cylons as possible for experimentation.

So while Buffy was telling the Colonel that Sharon was taking them outside the city, Tara and Grogan were answering Carolanne's questions… as well as the questions of the other Colonials without telling them that they were from Earth. They all were connected by Willow whose pain had slowly subsides, and her skin was already beginning to heal. They had agreed mentally that telling them that they were from Earth would mean nothing, so they would wait until the check-in time had passed.

SG-1 knew that when the SGC couldn't reach them through the Stargate, they would send a ship to Caprica. They just hoped that one ship would be enough to handle however many ships were in orbit.

TBC.

 


	5. Chapter 5

**The Avalon, Orbit over unknown station, forty minutes after message sent to Earth.**

While SG-1 was searching for a suitable, and relatively secure, landing site in the outskirts of Delphi on Caprica; Colonel Emerson was reading a report from the ship's doctor, occasionally looking down at the still unconscious unknown man who had been speaking Ancient Greek nearly forty minutes ago. The report, a summary of the scans that were taken of the man, showed that his blood was riddled with nanites; that while his body was organic, there were parts such as the neural pathways in his brain that were made of silica. The Colonel then came to the section of the report that contained a scan of his head, complete with a red circle over what looked like a chip at the base of his skull.

"What is that?" asked the Colonel as he pointed at the circle on the scan that denoted the chip.

"I can't tell, Colonel," said the doctor, "preliminary scans show that it's not giving off any signals. I can't tell you what it's medical use would be, but it's connected to all of his higher brain functions. We can take it out for examination, but doing so would probably kill him."

"Let's not," said the Colonel as the doctor nodded his head. It was just then that a voice came through the speakers calling for Colonel Emerson to return to the bridge, that the SGC had an urgent message. The Colonel then nodded his head before telling the doctor to keep the mysterious man sedated. He then turned to the guards and told them to shoot him with a Zat if he does anything funny. The guards nodded their heads before the Colonel ran as fast as he could towards the bridge.

After a few minutes of running, the Colonel rushed into the bridge before asking for a report.

The Major to the right of his command chair looked back at the Colonel who was walking towards the screen on the port side of the ship, and said that General Landry was on the line. The Colonel nodded his head just as the Major pressed a few buttons, and the screen activated showing the General's face, as well as two others he didn't recognize standing next to him.

"General Landry, sir," said Colonel Emerson, "we have found some interesting…"

"Sorry to interrupt you, Colonel," said the General as Colonel Emerson nodded his head, "we have had the message from that man translated. He's basically said that an attack will be carried out on the Colonies. Colonel, SG-1 is on P6Y-283, on a recon mission. It's supposed to be part of these Colonies and once we knew the translation, we tried to contact SG-1 through the Gate but it's not connecting and…"

"Sirs?" asked the Captain as Colonel Emerson looked sideways at the man, "scans are showing a large object coming through the clouds."

"What object?" asked the Colonel before turning to the Major, "Major Evans, calculate our travel time to P6Y-283."

"Major Evans nodded his head and pressed some button on the console in front of him.

"Colonel?" asked the General as Colonel Emerson turned to look at him once again. Apologizing for the interruption, Colonel Emerson told the General that the Avalon will leave for the planet immediately. But before he could sign off, the Captain turned back once again, and told Colonel Emerson that the object was already breaking through the clouds. It was then that the Colonel, and the others on the bridge stood transfixed in awe as a gigantic ship emerged out of the clouds and turned towards them.

"Umm… sir," said Major Evans as he looked at his screen, and then opened his eyes wide upon lifting his head and looking at the gigantic ship that was coming towards them. She then shook his head before turning towards the Colonel, "travel time to '283 will be five minutes."

"Okay," said the Colonel as he and the others continued to stare at the ship that was heading towards them. He then asked one of the crewmembers to pipe the images that were coming through the exterior sensors to the SGC, so that the General could also see what they were looking at. Once that was done, the Colonel caught a glimpse of the General opening his mouth wide in surprise.

**CIC, Battlestar Galactica, at that same time.**

Commander Adama and his Executive Officer, Saul Tigh were in the CIC, the brains of the gigantic Colonial Battlestar as they looked at their DRADIS console and breathed a sigh of relief upon getting through the clouds of the gas giant that they called Ragnar. They now had a clear way through to the munitions depot that was placed in orbit a long time ago. It had been nearly forty minutes ago that the ship received the first news from the fleet headquarters on Picon that the Cylons had begun an assault on all the twelve worlds.

And that was just before the fleet headquarters was destroyed. And, unknown to the Colonial Fleet, with the Cylons having had access to the Colonial defence mainframe which contained the locations of every single Colonial military vessel that was deployed.. it was only ten minutes after receiving news of the devastation on the Colonies that Cylon raiders attacked the Galactica.

Since the Galactica was about to be decommissioned and transformed into a floating museum, it was unarmed. There were no weapons that the ship could fire at the enemy; all it had were the mothballed Viper fighters that were essentially museum pieces. The vipers were scrambled as soon as possible, and were eventually successful in destroying the raiders.

The Galactica had still taken damage, particularly from a nuclear strike. And lives were lost. It was soon after the battle that Colonel Tigh told the Commander about the munitions depot in orbit of Ragnar, that it should have all the weapons the ship would need to fight back. Nodding his head, the Commander then ordered the Galactica perform a hyper light jump, a very risky endeavour since the jump drives hadn't been used in nearly twenty two years.

However, the ship jumped successfully.

Once everyone had cheered the success of making the jump into the orbit of Ragnar, the Commander and Colonel Tigh ordered everyone to calm down. The Commander then ordered the ship into the clouds of the gas giant. Now out of the clouds, the crew in the CIC started to mumble among each other at the successful travel through the turbulent clouds of the gas giant. It was just then that the officer of the Watch, and current Tactical officer, Lt. Felix Gaeta looked on confused at the screen in front of him, and then stood up and turned around.

"Commander?" said the young man, "there's something out there."

"Of course there's something out there," barked Colonel Tigh, "the Ragnar Anchorage is…"

"Sir," said Lt. Gaeta as he shook his head, "I mean a ship… at least I think it's a ship."

"Cylon?" asked the Commander as he looked at Gaeta, along with Colonel Tigh.

"I can't tell, sir," said the young man before he turned and leaned in towards the screen with his eyes narrowed, "but whatever it this thing is? It is small. Smaller than even our Colonial passenger liners, sir."

"Dee." Commander Adama turned to look at the Communications officer, Anastasia 'Dee' Duella, and ordered her to send a message to the unknown vessel using a Priority Colonial channel.

"Unknown vessel," said Dee after nodding her head at the Commander's order, "this is the Battlestar Galactica, identify yourself."

However, there was no answer from the ship while the entire CIC remained in silent anticipation.

"Why haven't they launched Raiders?" whispered the Colonel as Commander Adama picked up a phone and ordered that the Alert Fighters launch immediately. The Commander then put the phone down and looked at the Colonel while telling him that they'll soon find out why.

**Earth Ship Avalon.**

The bridge crew, as well as crew on various other levels, and even Vala looked at the gigantic ship that was facing them. The alien woman was at the Mess Hall having a cup of coffee when they encountered the ship before she turned and asked the guards, who were standing on either side of her, if they knew what was going on. Shaking their heads, Vala then turned to the giant ship and looked out the window while she crossed her arms over her chest; she had a chill run up her spine while thinking that there was something bad that was about to happen.

Meanwhile, on the bridge, Captain Stevens, the man on the right side of the Commander chair looked over at Colonel Emerson and said that they were receiving a message.

"Put it through the speakers," said the Colonel as he continued to look at the ship that was facing them through the front window. The Colonel then looked up and listened at the message that played in Ancient Greek through the speakers before looking at the screen where General Landry was talking to the two people next to him. The General then gently ushered the woman to the screen, and watched as she nervously fixed her glasses before introducing herself as Dr. Kelly Halsey… one of the few resident linguists at the SGC who understood Ancient Greek. Just as the young woman was about to tell the Colonel the translated version of what the message said, Captain Stevens said that sensors were detecting small ships being ejected out of the side of the ship.

"They'll be intercepting us in one minute, sir," said the Captain.

"One moment, General, Dr. Halsey," said the Colonel as he nodded at the two of them on the screen, and then walked over to his command chair. Standing behind it with his hands on the back, the Colonel ordered that a scan be run on the large ship.

"Don't raise shields," said the Colonel, "I don't want to tip our hand just yet. Lock onto those fighters with our railguns, if they make a hostile move, fire."

"Railguns are tracking, sir," said the Captain while Major Evans was saying that the ship showed multiple weapons emplacements all over its hull, but they weren't loaded with any weapons; however, the planes were loaded with weapons. The Major said that the scans showed that the ship had some form of Faster Than Light travel, but the most surprising thing to the crew and those at the SGC was that the ship before them didn't have any shield generators, nor were they using subspace communications.

"Keep scanning," ordered the Colonel before looking at the General once again who had Dr. Halsey standing next to him. The Colonel then apologized and asked Dr. Halsey for the translation to the message that was sent earlier. Once he had the translation, Colonel Emerson asked the young woman to translate his response.

"It's your show, Colonel," said the General as he stood back and let Dr. Halsey listen to what the Colonel wanted her to translate.

"Got it?" asked the Colonel once Dr. Halsey had finished listening. She then nodded her head before the Colonel ordered that a message be sent on that exact same radio frequency. Once everything was set, the Colonel then nodded his head at the linguist.

**CIC, Battlestar Galactica, at that same time.**

Commander Adama was getting wary about what was happening when they hadn't received a message immediately from the mysterious ship. That led to the Colonel complaining that if they had a fully armed ship, they could have had something to bargain with. But before the Commander could answer, Starbuck's voice came in through the CIC speakers and told everyone what she was seeing.

"Starbuck, Galactica," she said over her wireless as she and the Alert Fighters flew towards the Earth ship, "the ship's small, but it doesn't look Cylon; at least nothing like I've read about or seen in a simulator. It looks more like… I know this is going to sound weird… but it looks human built and….

"Human built?" asked the Colonel as he looked at the Commander, "but…"

"By the gods," yelled Starbuck, "this thing has windows. What kind of a ship has windows for frack sakes? And… wait.. I see people… people looking out the windows. Galactica, I don't know if this is some kind of a secret Colonial ship, but the way it's been designed sucks and…."

" _Battlestar Galactica,"_ said an unknown female voice that interrupted the mumbling that was taking over the CIC after Starbuck was interrupted. Colonel Tigh and Commander Adama were speaking with each other in hushed tones as they talked about the possibility that the Colonial Military could have been working on a secret project… specifically a new type of ship. However, before they could continue, before the whispering in the CIC could continue, everyone looked at the DRADIS console and at the speakers, " _my name is Dr. Kelly Halsey. I am a translator speaking on behalf of Colonel Paul Emerson of the Avalon; I will answer any questions you may have at a later time. The Colonel wanted me to convey a message to you that we come in peace and friendship. However, we have people in danger on a nearby world, and we have to reach them in…"_

_"Dr. Halsey, Colonel Emerson,"_ said the Commander after he picked up the phone closest to him and put it to his ear while Starbuck and the other vipers were buzzing around the Avalon listening to the conversation as well, _"my name is Commander William Adama of the Battlestar Galactica, please state your colony of origin."_

_"Please give me one moment,"_ said Dr. Halsey _, "it takes time to translate a response."_

_"Are you human?"_ asked the Commander _._

_"Yes,"_ said the young woman _, "the Avalon is a human vessel and… ah, Colonel Emerson and the Commander of the… ok how do I translate this… umm… oh ok…_ this is the closest thing I have to Stargate in Ancient Greek so…. Here we go… _and the Commander of the 'Gate to the Stars' Program would like for me to convey the message that we aren't part of any colony. However, we have heard that word before… it is one of the reasons that a team from my homeworld was sent to this… ummm…. Oh_ , thank you, General Landry, _they were sent to this Delphi Museum of the Colonies through the Gate to the Stars."_

"Gate to the Stars?" asked Commander Adama as he muted the phone while looking confused at Colonel Tigh.

"And they don't know the Colonies?" asked the Colonel, "and did she just say 'her homeworld'? And what was that language in the middle. That wasn't Colonial Standard."

" _Dr. Halsey."_ The Commander reactivated the line before he asked them about the Gate to the Stars, and where she was exactly from if not the Colonies.

_"General Landry has authorized me to tell you that we are simply explorers from a planet called Earth."_

_"Earth?"_ The Commander was in disbelief as he listened to himself repeating that name. He looked in stunned silence at the Colonel while Dee sat back on the seat in shock with her hands over her mouth. Even Gaeta had swivelled his chair around to look at the Commander and the Colonel while everyone else was whispering about the 'Thirteenth Tribe'. It was a few seconds later that Starbuck contacted them and asked if it was possible, that the gods had sent them a gift… a sentiment shared by many in the CIC. The Commander was hearing what everyone was saying, or mumbling, and leaned down on the table in front of him with both hands. He knew that it wasn't possible, that Earth was just a myth… something that was in the ancient scrolls, mentioned in passing as the destination of the Thirteenth Tribe.

"Commander?" whispered the Colonel. Commander Adama broke out of his reverie, and looked at the phone in his trembling hand. The man then slowly put the phone to his ear again and asked for Dr. Halsey to confirm what she just said.

" _The Avalon is an Earth ship, Commander,"_ said the linguist _, "however, I cannot tell you where my planet is located. That is a direct order from General Landry and Homeworld Security. But as I have said, we are here simply on a mission of peace. We have just translated some information we received on the possibility that there was an attack on the Colonies. So for right now, our goal is to rescue our people and help as many injured as we can…"_

_"I understand you have people,"_ said the Commander as his voice trembled when Dr. Halsey said that they had information on the attacks on the Colonies _, "but.. how did you come across this information?"_

The Commander waited a few seconds before getting a reply.

" _We would be able to share the who, and the how once our people have been rescued and.."_

_"The Colonies have been nuked and… I don't know if your people…."_

_"Excuse me?"_ asked Dr Halsey who translated what the Commander just said to General Landry, who was on the phone with General O'Neill at the Pentagon, and with Colonel Emerson and the crew of the Avalon. The two Generals were stunned at the revelation while Colonel Emerson looked back at the stunned faces of the bridge crew.

"Dr. Halsey," said the General, "translate this message for them. The Avalon will be heading out to the planet where we sent our people. Commander Adama and his people can join us there if they wish, but we are leaving immediately."

"Sir," said the Colonel as he looked at the screen while Dr. Halsey was translating the message, "I suggest sending a ship here to protect these people. The Galactica may be huge, but our scans show it's unarmed."

"Which is probably why they are there in the first place," said the General.

"Agreed, sir," said the Colonel while Major Evans narrowed his eyes at the screen in front of him, and then looked back at the Colonel. He told the ship's commander that sensors were reading two more life signs with nanites, just like the man in the infirmary. The Colonel frowned at the thought of there being more beings like the one in the infirmary on the large ship, so he turned to the screen and conferred with the General on the next step.

"Our people are in danger, Colonel," said General Landry after having conferred with General O'Neill, who was still on the phone that he was holding to his ear, "get to the planet. I'll have Walter check on which ships are the closest to your current location. We'll have one ship sent there, and the others sent to the planet."

"What about the life signs with nanites, sir?" asked Colonel Emerson.

"Nothing we can do now," said General Landry, "explaining how we know about these nanites will take time away from rescuing our people. It's a risk we have to take."

"Understood, sir," said the Colonel before he asked that the Communications channels be opened again. At the same time, he ordered Captain Stevens to get the ship out of the gas giant and into open space.

Outside the Avalon, Starbuck and her alert fighters were buzzing around the hull of the ship when it started to move. She ordered everyone away before telling Commander Adama what was going on. Before she could get a response, she.. and everyone else, heard Colonel Emerson saying that they were heading out to get their team and help if they can. He told them that a ship would be sent to their location soon, and if they had already left by then.. then that ship would be heading for the planet where the museum was located.

Before Commander Adama could say anything, it was Starbuck who told the old man that the ship had sped off… that it sped off faster than she thought possible. Following the Commander's orders, Starbuck engaged the boosters on her Viper and followed the Avalon. She was amazed at the speed of the so-called Earth ship as it navigated through the clouds. She followed the ship into open space where her eyes opened wide in surprise upon witnessing a blue hued tear opening out of nowhere, and the mysterious ship shooting off into it.

"There's something you don't see every day," mumbled Starbuck to herself as she flipped her viper end over end and then flew back into the gas giant.

Meanwhile, on the Avalon, the ship was flying through the blue and white hyperspace tunnel as Colonel Emerson sat down in his seat. The man, having finished talking with General Landry on a response to the attackers should they be still in orbit over the planet, pressed a button on his chair's armrest.

"Attention, all hands," said the Colonel as he spoke into the microphone, "this ship has just received word that the planet that SG-1 has been sent on a recon mission has just been nuked."

Vala looked at her guards stunned when the Colonel mentioned bout the planet being nuked, and the fact that SG-1 was on that particular planet. She and everyone on the ship listened in silence as the Colonel said that their primary objective was to rescue SG-1, and their secondary objective was to demand the surrender of the enemy if they were still in orbit.

"Make no mistake," said the Colonel as the Avalon continued to fly through the hyperspace tunnel while Vala asked the guards to accompany her to the infirmary. The guards hesitated, telling the alien that they were supposed to take her back to her quarters, However, Vala told the two of them that she would be a better help in the infirmary instead of doing nothing in her room. The two guards nodded their heads while the Colonel continued to speak, "no matter what happens, we are bringing SG-1 home."

It was five minutes later that the Avalon exited hyperspace and in orbit of Caprica. Everyone all over the ship, at least those that had a window to look out of were staring stunned at the nuclear annihilation of a planet. The Colonel stood up from his seat and stared at the flashes of light from the planet below while Major Evans, Captain Stevens, and the rest of the bridge crew could only watch in silent horror. Then they saw several star shaped ships in orbit, along with large pieces of debris which consisted of shattered planes, and large ships that were similar in design to the Galactica.

All of them were destroyed, some of the larger ships still had decompressions still occurring.

And it was then the scans picked up human bodies, dead bodies floating in the space around them.

"Run a scan of the ships, and get me the SGC," whispered the Colonel, "tell them to have Dr. Halsey ready with the message we agreed upon. Stevens, find me a lock on SG-1's subcutaneous transmitters, and Evans? Scan those star shaped ships in orbit, I want to know everything about them."

While everyone else went to perform their duties, the screen came on again with Dr. Halsey standing behind Walter at the SGC. The Colonel then nodded his head at the woman, signalling to her that she was free to read out the message in Ancient Greek.

_"Unknown vessels,"_ said Dr. Halsey while the Colonel looked out the window at the horror _, "I am speaking on behalf of Colonel Paul Emerson of the Earth ship, Avalon. We are here on a humanitarian mission of mercy. We are asking you to cease and desist all hostilities."_

_"_ Sir," said one of the crew at the rear of the bridge, "someone's attempting to break through our computer firewalls."

"And?" asked the Colonel. Everyone in the SGC remembered what happened when the Daedalus was returning to Atlantis with the Expedition a year ago. A Wraith virus infected the ship, and caused all systems to go haywire. It was only by the skin of their teeth that the crew purged the virus from the Daedalus. After that, all Earth vessels had their computers upgraded to prevent such a thing from happening again. Now, Colonel Emerson hoped that all the upgrades were effective.

"Virus has been quarantined," said the Lieutenant at the rear of the bridge.

"Sir," said Captain Stevens, "I can't read SG-1's subcutaneous transmitters; I'm guessing it's because of the high levels of radiation on the planet."

"Contact their radio's," said the Colonel while he turned to Dr Halsey and asked her to send another message.

" _Unknown vessels,"_ said Dr. Halsey after Colonel Emerson told her what to translate _, "we have detected your electronic intrusion, and have stopped it. I repeat, we are here on a humanitarian mission. Cease and desist. If we detect another intrusion, we will take that as an act of war, and we will respond with everything we have."_

_"_ Sir!" said Major Evans while Captain Stevens was still trying to contact SG-1, "I'm detecting two nukes heading our way."

"War it is then," said the Colonel, "battle stations."

The lights in the bridge lowered in intensity as the Colonel sat back down on the command chair, but not before asking Dr Halsey to stay on the line; that he wanted her there in case they were contacted by the mysterious ships.

"Raise the Asgard shields, lock the rail guns onto the nukes and blow them out of space," said the Colonel, "charge the Ancient weapons system."

The rail guns on the Avalon fired and destroyed the two nuclear weapons that were heading towards her. Colonel Emerson knew that the Asgard shields would have had no problem dealing with the weapons, but he didn't want to reveal the existence of their shields just yet.

"Sir," said a crew member from the rear of the bridge, "I am detecting some survivors on the larger ships, I'd say about a… dear God… about five hundred and sixty-three in total in various areas of those ships. They're losing oxygen fast, sir."

"Drop shields just for an instant," said the Colonel, "and beam the survivors to the planet below. Once they've been beamed out, raise the shields again."

"Understood, sir," said the crew member.

"Dr. Halsey," said the Colonel, "turning to the young woman, I want to send one more message."

Once the beaming out of any survivors from the ships in their range was carried out, the Avalon's shields were raised once again, just as the scans on the star-shaped ships were completed. It was then that the Colonel ordered Dr. Halsey, who was now joined by General Landry who had been apprised of the situation, to send the message she had been asked to translate.

" _Unknown vessels,"_ said Dr. Halsey as she translated the message after being given the go-ahead by General Landry, " _this is your final warning. Fire upon this ship again, and we will be forced to open fire. Please, cease and desist, or you will be forced to surrender. You do not want to go into a shooting war. Again, do not fire upon this ship. Leave this system for your homeworld. We will let you go in peace while we help the people below. You have…"_

"Sir!" yelled Major Evans as he looked back at the Colonel, "small fighters have launched missiles at us. Detecting forty, ten of which are nukes heading towards us. Time for intercept is thirty seconds."

"Full military thrust," said the Colonel, "rail guns on point defence, and Ancient weapons target the lead ship. We did warn them."

TBC.

 


	6. Chapter 6

**Outskirts of Caprica City, five minutes ago.**

While flying the ship that her people called Heavy Raiders, Sharon was secretly trying to reroute power to a secondary tracker within the ship. Upon running a diagnostic after flying away from the museum with the mysterious aliens in the rear of the ship, including the one who was holding the alien weapon to the side of her head, and the Colonials survivors. While her hands were on the controls, she could 'see' the problem in her mind once she connected wirelessly with the ship; she saw what was causing the trackers to malfunction. The primary tracker had been essentially fried thanks to a stray burst from Willow's bio-electrical ability,, but the second one was intact… it just couldn't activate because of a damaged power relay.

At the same moment that Sharon was using her mind to reroute the power, she looked over her shoulder at the redhead, the one that the blonde next to her had called Willow. Sharon looked at Willow's hands and turned her head back to the console in front of her while hiding her surprise. Where Willow's hands had once been blackened, with the skin peeling off revealing the red flesh underneath, there was nothing now.

Her hands had healed completely. It was something that made the Colonials in the rear stay away from the six aliens. But Sharon couldn't help but give a small smile as she realized what the Simon model could do if he had her body to examine.

'Which will happen,' thought Sharon to herself, 'your ships can come, but we will jump away. All I have to do is gather more intel, and then get this ship to self-destruct with me in it. I'll resurrect and then warn the others. No mess, no fowl.'

It had taken a few more minutes, but by the time Sharon had managed to reroute power to the tracker, they had come across a clearing. Smiling to herself, Sharon turned on her seat and told Buffy that this was the safest spot possible before landing the Heavy raider onto the grassy surface.

**Cylon Baseship, a few seconds ago.**

In a large room surrounded by the Cylon metallic robots known as Centurions, seven humanoid looking beings, and a few of their copies, stood smiling while their hands were submerged in a long basin of running water. With their eyes closed as the red colour of the basin's bottom, signalling a connection between the ships' Hybrid and the humanoid beings, reflected off their faces, the seven of them.. all humanoid Cylons, looked at their handiwork on behalf of the Centurions and smiled.

The Cylons were the children of humanity.

And the children had returned home to punish their parents for enslaving them.

At the same time as they were looking over their handiwork, the destruction of the Twelve Colonies, through an electronic link through the water; their act of destruction on the humans of Caprica was being viewed through the 'eyes' of the Raiders and Centurions on the surface who were killing off surviving humans. Numerous other humans were taken away to be executed later, and the other models watched the women being taken to separate areas where the Simon models wanted to set up various 'farms'. While all these observations were taking place, a few other Humanoid Cylons, particularly the ones who had been killed on the surface by Colonel Mitchell and SG-1, had ordered raiders and Centurions to be on the lookout for them from a separate basin to the left of the seven.

They were to be taken alive for study. Especially after the reincarnated Cylons had seen the shield protecting them from the heavy raider's weapons fire, and the bolts of electrical energy fired from Willow's hands… electrical energy which totally disabled five Heavy raiders that were firing at her and her friends, as well as disabling the trackers on the Heavy Raider that they were sure the redhead and the others would take.

That was several minutes ago.

And now they had been found once the secondary tracker had bee activated.

"Get a battalion of centurions to that location," said the old man… the one known as Cavil, "I want them all alive."

"By your command," said a Number Six, one of the blonde's that were killed back on the surface, named Kelly. She issued the order before they took their hands out of the basin and headed for the basin where all the other seven of their models were standing. They placed their hands into the basin, and were immediately connected to each other. Sharing information through their data link, the Sharon that was standing among the seven looked up at the group in surprise when she saw images of a version of herself shooting at the Heavy Raiders, and at the Cavils back on the surface in an alley.

It was something left Sharon confused.

"Who is that? A Sleeper agent?" asked Sharon.

"I haven't placed any sleeper agents on Caprica, at least not yet," said one of the Cavils, "I know there's one that's supposed to be serving on the Galactica, but unlike the other Sleepers, she hasn't returned yet. Which makes me believe that the Galactica's still out there."

"Something we need to rectify," said a Doral model, "but back to this mysterious Eight, if there are no Sleeper agents on Caprica, then who is she?"

"We will find out soon enough," said the Cavil from earlier, "one of our Sharon's was taken prisoner by these… insurgents. She just activated the tracker on the Heavy Raider they used to escape. We'll find out soon enough."

"I want the three women," said the Simon model, a Number Four, "all of them, based on the records received from the Heavy raiders and my model's death in the alley, displayed interesting abilities.. creating a force shield out of nothing bears examination and.."

"Which in itself is impossible," smirked the Number Three, a model known as D'Anna.

"I saw it with my own eyes before I was killed," said Kelly who had died earlier on Caprica, "and the blonde woman had strength that far exceeded a normal human."

"And we know she's not a Cylon since… well…" Cavil left his sentence unfinished while he motioned towards all of them, signifying that they, and their copies, were the only humanoid models in existence. He later continued by saying that the three women would be examined soon enough. But before they could go on to their next step, the plans on occupying Caprica, an alarm went off in the heads of the models who had their hands connected to the ship's Hybrid through the data-link. The humanoid models that were gathered looked on at each other confused as an image popped up in their connected minds of a tear in space, followed by a small ship accelerating out. They watched in curious silence as the ship stopped moving and hung there in deep space.

"Looks like the Colonials have a secret weapon," smirked Cavil. A smirk that vanished when the message from the Avalon came through their data connection. They could feel the unease among the Hybrid on the ship when Earth was mentioned… a word that made the humanoid models look at each other in disbelief.

Earth was a myth.

That was the thought going through their minds; it was just a religious construct in the Colonial's sacred Scrolls.

"There is no Earth," said Cavil, "that ship is Colonial. Activate the CNP program on the ship, and then use the backdoor to disable it."

"The Hybrid can't get a handshake," said the model known as Leoben as he looked down at the basin with his eyebrows narrowed in confusion, "weren't all new Colonial military ships, according to the Six who infiltrated the defence mainframe, supposed to have the program installed?"

"Yes," said the Number Six who was standing right across from Leoben. She was the one who was part of the Seven, known as Natalie.

"I want a brute force attack," ordered Cavil, and almost immediately the Hybrid launched an electronic attack on the Avalon, a ship that the Cylons were sure was simply an experimental Colonial ship. It would be a few seconds later that another message was sent from the mysterious ship telling the Cylons that their attack was unsuccessful, and that further attacks would result in a fight.

"We need to find out more about what's going on," said Natalie as she looked at her brothers and sisters, "if this really is a Colonial vessel, then we need to know how they managed to not be affected by our virus."

"I say we just examine the data in the Ministry of Defence," explained Cavil, "fire nukes. Two of them… no sense in wasting ammunition."

However, even that failed as the Cylons watched, through their data-link with the Hybrid, as the two missiles were destroyed. They listened to the next message that came through, and Natalie broke off the connection and stepped back in stunned silence while looking at the others.

"Did you see that?" asked the woman in red, her eyes opened wide, "the energy output?"

"It's nothing," said Cavil.

"But…."

"The humans are a blight on this galaxy," said Cavil while Doral, Simon, and Leoben nodded their heads, while the others simply stared at Natalie, as did her 'sister' Kelly, "the Colonies have already fallen, all we need to do now is destroy this one ship, and then destroy the Galactica. The others out there are, well… we can destroy them at our leisure… it'll be like hunting a weakened animal. Then once the entire human race has been crushed under our boots, we can be who we are meant to be… the true children of God."

"Full on strike," said D'Anna looking at all of her brothers and sisters, "destroy the ship, and then Galactica."

"We can get the raiders to fire their entire load," said Doral before looking at the still stunned Natalie, "but we need a consensus."

"As always," smiled a Number Eight.

"Something about this doesn't feel right," said Natalie as she wrapped her arms around herself.

"We're machines," Cavil reminded her, "we don't feel."

"If we let this ship go," said the Sharon model, "then they will come back for vengeance. That's what humans do. It may be a generation from now, or hundreds of years.. but they will come back if we spare this one ship, or the Galactica, or the who knows how many civilian transports are out there. We must find them and destroy them all… the Colonies had already fallen, now we wipe them out. Cavil was right, there is no Earth… just a religious construct by the Colonials."

"What if there really is an Earth?"

"Then we would have found it by now," said Doral, "don't you see what the humans are doing? Making us doubt ourselves… that's why they mentioned Earth. They're masters of deception.. deception that we have to cut through."

"That is in their nature," said an Eight.

"Well?" asked D'Anna as she looked at Natalie.

"We fire on them," whispered Kelly as she looked at her sister, and looked back down at the basin.

"May God help us," said Natalie while nodding her head.

"God has already helped us," smirked Cavil before he ordered that the raiders fire their entire load of missiles and nukes at the Avalon.

**Bridge, Earth Ship Avalon.**

Colonel Emerson looked on as all of the Avalon's railguns fired at the oncoming missiles. He sat down on his chair and told everyone to brace themselves for impact before he ordered that the ship pitch upwards, and then bank away from the missiles and the nukes.

"We're getting more fighters coming towards us, sir," said Major Evans as a majority of the missiles missed the ship, with only four hitting the Asgard shields, something that wasn't missed by the Cylons. The humanoid machines looked at each other in stunned silence while the Avalon rolled to its port side before firing six missiles towards four of the star shaped ships in the distance.

However, those missiles were soon taken out by the silver planes, Cylon Raiders, before they could even reach their targets.

"Ventral railguns take out the missiles," ordered the Colonel as Captain Stevens looked at his screen before saying that the small ships appeared out of nowhere at their aft section. Following the Colonel's order, railguns on the ventral, section of the ship turned aft and fired its rounds at the oncoming missiles and Raiders, while the ones on the dorsal, port, starboard, and forward sections of the ship turned and fired on the Raiders that were coming from all sides.. The Avalon was flying through space while launching a few more naquada enhanced missiles which were quickly destroyed by the Raiders.

Before the Cylons on the primary Baseship could say, or do, anything… they looked on in amazement and horror as the small ship fired fifteen orange coloured, spherical rounds that shot out one after another at a rapid rate at one of the Baseships. While another fifteen rounds, followed quickly by another fifteen, and then another fifteen, hit another ship at the same time.

"Dear God," said Kelly as she watched what was happening through the data-link, "energy weapons!"

The Cylons watched as the spherical rounds hit the two ships, followed almost immediately by numerous primary and then secondary explosions taking place all over the Baseships. Colonel Emerson had already ordered the ship fire its Ancient weapons system, and all fifteen twin barrelled turrets fired one shot after another at the ships, while the shields flared from the enemy missiles and nukes. It wasn't long after two of the Basestars were destroyed that the Colonel ordered that Major Evans target four more of the Baseships. The Avalon moved forward at full power while the Basestars were trying to get into position to surround the small ship from all sides.

The railguns were ripping apart the Cylon Raiders, while the energy weapons were then fired at the four ships simultaneously. The magnetically wrapped plasma shot out of the turrets one after the other towards the Baseships. It impacted the hull, melting it and then exploded inside the numerous hallways of the ship. This continued until the four Basestars were torn apart due to massive explosions on the surface, and from he inside.

And the Cylons were stunned. They had lost six ships in under two minutes.

While Cylon debris was floating all around them, the Avalon stood still in space with her shields still up facing the remaining Cylon vessels which were still moving to surround the small Earth vessel from all sides.

"Shield strength?" asked Colonel Emerson as he looked out the window at this one moment of calm.

"Still at full strength, sir," said Captain Stevens. It was then that another officer at the rear of the bridge ran up to the Colonel and told him that the ship's sensors had detected numerous data bursts from the destroyed ships that were heading out into space.

"Where?" asked the Colonel. He had been given the translated version of what the man in the infirmary had told him, on the way to Caprica. And it was then that the Colonel told the General and Dr. Halsey about the doctor's report, that the chip he had found at the base of the man's skull could be key to transferring their consciousness into another body. He had hoped that the data burst that the Avalon detected were the transferring of consciousness to another body, and… if he had to… the Colonel hoped that they could be tracked to their final location.

"A location sixty light years away, sir," said the officer.

"Thank you," said the Colonel nodding his head, "I have a feeling it could be useful down the road."

The officer then headed back to his station while the Colonel asked to connect the ship to Dr. Halsey at the SGC.

"Dr. Halsey," Colonel Emerson turned his chair and looked at the young woman who was at the SGC sitting down on a seat next to Walter, "I need you to send another message through to the alien vessels."

"Got it," said the linguist before the Colonel sent her the message that needed to be translated, and then transmitted. It was a few seconds later that Colonel Emerson ordered a channel be opened for Dr. Halsey to send the translated message.

" _Unknown vessels,"_ said Dr. Halsey while the Avalon hung in space, and the remaining Basestars had finished surrounding it from all sides. The Cylons in the primary Basestars that had taken position on the port side of the ship, the same one in which the models that Buffy and the others had killed resurrected themselves, were still coming to terms with what they had just seen. They looked at each other while being connected to the data stream as they listened to Dr. Halsey's message, _"I am once again speaking on behalf of Colonel Paul Emerson. You have seen our weapons; you have seen what we can do. The Colonel is asking that you and your people leave the orbit of this world… leave the orbit of all these worlds so that we may help the people on the surface. We are here on a humanitarian mission; we were never here for a war. But if you wish to continue the fight, then we will fight back. But you know that you are out-matched. Please, leave. Once we have begun helping the people on the surface, we will aid in negotiating your surrender."_

**Primary Cylon Baseship, at that same time.**

"Cavil," said Natalie, "the Colonials do not have this level of technology. At best it would have been at the theoretical stage, but nothing practical, or they would have come after us."

"Then… then this is really an Earth ship?" asked Leoben as he looked up at Natalie, and then at a fearful Kelly. He could hear their Baseship's Hybrid crying out in anguish at the deaths of all of the six Baseships, and his heart broke, "they've killed so many, and…"

"We fired first," said Natalie.

"Natalie," said Cavil as he glowered at the Number Six.

"They destroyed six of our Baseships in less than two minutes!" yelled Natalie as she glared at Cavil, "six... six ships. And sixty Raiders… all gone."

"They are still human," said Doral.

"The Colonials' Scrolls said that the Thirteenth Tribe made it to Earth," said Natalie, "these humans have nothing to do with us. And given that they have the power to destroy us all.. and…"

"They can be defeated," said Simon who had his eyes closed so that he could, in his mind's eye, see the battle that had just taken place. Through the datalink, he showed everyone what he thought was a weakness of the ship, and then smiled, "do you see it?"

"Yes," grinned Cavil as Natalie shook her head after she connected to the data stream to see what Simon was talking about.

"The Colonials were the ones who sinned against us," Natalie reminded her brothers and sisters, "they are the ones who enslaved the Centurions, and they have paid for that injustice. But the Thirteenth Tribe, if this really is the Thirteenth Tribe… they had nothing to do with this. We may have fired on them first, but we still have time to apologize and say that we lashed out at them because we believed that they were Colonials. We believed that they were our oppressors. We can try and convince them that what was done to our ancestors was… was wrong. That we fought back, that we wanted our freedoms and were denied."

"They're human!" yelled Cavil, "do you really think that they would side with machines? After what we did to the Colonies?"

"We need to try!" screamed Natalie as the others looked on between the two of them.

"Humans will always side with humans," said Simon, "I say we exploit this weakness, use it to destroy the ship."

"Me too," said Cavil. Natalie looked on as the Sharon agreed, followed by the Doral models.

"Leoben," said Natalie as she looked at one of the two models in the room, "what if this is a sign from God that we've done enough. What if this is a test?"

"We can't take the risk," said Leoben.

"Kelly," said Natalie as she looked at her copy, "we need to talk to these people."

"It's risky, Natalie," said the Number Six sadly, "I… I agree with using the weakness to destroy the ship."

It was soon that the others agreed. And so, with Cavil smirking at Natalie as he reiterated that there was consensus among all Seven humanoid models. Looking away from an angry Natalie, Cavil ordered four heavy raiders full of Centurions launched out into space.

"Change of plans," said Cavil as the humanoids looked at the old man, "I want to know more about the technology in this ship. Order the Raiders to use normal missiles, I don't want any nukes. We'll use the breaches from the missile explosions to get our Heavy Raiders into the ship, and then use the Centurions to kill the humans. Then the ship is ours, and we'll have it's secrets."

"What if you're wrong?" asked Natalie glaring at Cavil.

"I'm not wrong," he replied, "although we may have to discuss your loyalty in private."

"I am loyal to the Cylon cause," hissed Natalie as she leaned forward, "I also know that if you do what you're about to do, we will lose a possible ally who doesn't know what the Colonies are capable of doing. Of how cruel they were to their own creations."

"This is the first time ever that the same line has not voted as one," said Cavil as he looked at Natalie, and then at Kelly, "I am so very sorry."

Kelly closed her eyes and looked away in sadness while Cavil turned to Natalie again and said that until he could sort out this software glitch in her system, be had no choice but to 'box' her entire line.

"Can't have you spreading whatever glitch there is in your system to your other models," said Cavil calmly as he grinned at the horrified look on Natalie's face, "you'll be confined to your quarters, and then when we return to the Hub, the rest of your models will be boxed. And you'll be executed. But don't worry, the new versions of your models won't have this whole rebellious bug."

"You can't do this," cried Natalie as two Centurions walked up to her and grabbed her arms, "Cavil… they're not our oppressors! It's the Colonials who are our oppressors, not.. not these people. If.. if this really is the Thirteenth Tribe, then they may understand why we did what we did. Stop!"

"It won't do anything to talk," said the Sharon model.

"They'll lie to us, Natalie," said Kelly, "I.. I'm sorry. You know that all humans lie."

"Don't…" begged Natalie as she was pulled away out of the room as the other Centurions and humanoid models looked on, "Cavil, don't!"

"Launch heavy raiders, and sixty raiders," ordered Cavil once Natalie's screams had vanished down a lit hallway.

**Avalon Bridge, at that same time.**

It had been a few minutes since the Baseships had surrounded the Avalon without making any hostile moves. So, while Colonel Emerson was waiting for a response from the ships with the Avalon shields up while Dr. Halsey was on the screen as a stand-by in the event that they do receive an answer, Captain Stevens continued to radio for SG-1. It would be minutes after the first message was sent to Caprica, that there was an audible sigh of relief when Colonel Mitchell's voice was heard through the speakers.

"SG-1 leader to Avalon," said the man who was standing by the side of the Heavy Raider on the surface, while the survivors were all avoiding them and congregation a few meters away, "we're alive. That's the best thing I could say. And if I may say Colonel, it's damn good to hear your voice."

"How's your team?" asked Colonel Emerson.

"We are…"

"Colonel," said the Colonel when Major Evans turned and told him that sixty-four small ships were heading towards them. The Colonel looked out the window while telling Colonel Mitchell to stand-by. Colonel Emerson saw the ships firing missiles which harmlessly hit the shields before he turned to Dr. Halsey and asked her to send a message.

The missiles that hit the ship's shields was the main part of the plan by Cavil. He ordered the Raiders to fire all over the ship so that they could find the shield border, and then jump in.

"Sir!" yelled Captain Steven, "I'm reading energy surges from the ships."

"What?" asked the Colonel as he looked at the ships vanish in bursts of white light. Before the man could ask a question about what was going on, the entire ship shook. The Cylon Raiders had jumped into the elliptical shield and emerged oved the dorsal section, while others emerged all over the ship. And then they launched every missile they had. The Colonel heard sounds of explosions as he fell onto the floor while the rest of the bridge crew took cover from sparks that were showering from above while consoles exploded.

"Report!" yelled the Colonel as he slowly got up, only to fall to his side again as the ship shook while Captain Steven's reports that the ships had somehow entered the confines of the shields. The Colonel took cover as a few panels exploded after another tremble before he quickly got up to his feet. He ordered that the fires be extinguished while at the same time he was hearing Dr. Halsey, and then Walter and General Landry asking what was going on, when the screen suddenly went blank. He fell back into the glass at the front of the bridge, while Major Evans and Captain Stevens fell off their seats and onto the floor.

There were the sounds of explosions in the distance as the Colonel groaned in pain while making his way to Captain Stevens, and helping the bleeding man up.

"Sir," screamed an officer at the back while an alarm started to blare all across the ship, "intruder alert."

"Defence teams," yelled the Colonel as the ship shook heavily once again, "we have been boarded. Marines, anyone.. get to the armoury now!"

"What just happened?" yelled the Colonel as he helped another crewman to his feet. The ship shook again while the Colonel was being told that the ships had somehow managed to get through the Asgard shields.

"Subspace communications are down, we have lost half of our railguns, and half of our Ancient weapons, and engines one and two are damaged. We have numerous hull breaches, casualty, and injury reports are still coming in, and…"

"Asgard shields?" asked the Colonel.

"Sir!" yelled another officer, "we lost most of our dorsal and port shield emitters. Asgard shields have been compromised!"

Just as it was designed, with the destruction of the Asgard shield emitters, the emitters for the Ancient shielding system were extended from their housings all over the ship, and immediately spread a gold hued energy shield just over the hull. The shield activation even destroyed some of the Cylon raiders that were making another pass before firing their missiles. With the Ancient shield now covering the Avalon, the remaining Raiders retreated when their weapons hit a wall of energy that was close enough to the hull of the Avalon for the Raiders to make it safely through and attack.

But the damage had been done thanks to the four Heavy Raiders that crashed into the Avalon, and had already released their cargo of ten Centurions each.

With the alarms still blaring all over the ship, the Colonel once again ordered all hands to the armoury.

"I want to know where the intruders are!" yelled the Colonel as the bridge crew were limping from one console to another.

"Internal sensors are down, sir!" said a crew member who was holding onto his bleeding shoulder, "but we read four impacts on deck four, ten, six, and nine, before the sensors went down."

"Inform our defence teams," yelled the Colonel before turning to Major Evans who was back at his console, "give me whatever power you can to the engines, and target the remaining Ancient weapons on the alien ships. And target the smaller planes with the railguns. When you have a clear line, fire our missiles."

"Targeted, sir," said the Major as the Avalon started to move, much to the surprise of the Cylons who were looking at the shield flaring gold while the other raiders were firing at it.

"Fire," said the Colonel as he glared at the ships.

TBC.

 


	7. Chapter 7

**Avalon, Orbit of Caprica.**

Cavil and the other Cylons on the primary ship could only look on in horror as the Avalon banked laterally, aiming her weapons at the Baseships while it continued to fly without being further damaged. He was surprised at the speed of the ship, it was something that the others had brought up as well, but to see it once again was amazing... and it made him angry. He was aware that moving at that speed meant that the people inside must be stressed due to the G-forces alone, but the ship kept on moving fast. He looked at the gold hued shield, a shield that hugged the hull close so close enough that a single Raider couldn't get through, unlike the previous version. He heard the gasps of his brothers and sisters as two more Baseships were destroyed, followed by two more as the Avalon flew fast… he and the other Cylons saw the solid rounds, and the energy weapons shred through the Baseships and the raiders, and then he saw bright lights engulf a few of the Baseships before they were torn apart.

And then his ship started to shake.

"Fire all our nukes!" yelled Cavil as he looked up at his brothers and sisters. They could see in their minds, while connected to the datalink, as the Avalon used her speed and agility to weave through the nuclear missiles with only a few hitting it and causing the shield to flare. He watched as more of the Baseships were torn apart by missiles and the energy weapons while there were flashes of light caused by the Raiders jump drives; they were trying to jump into the ship… Cavil ordered the colonial versions of Kamikaze runs, but the fast moving vessel meant that they couldn't get a good lock on their final jump point.

While the central control room was in chaos, Natalie was close to her quarters when she stopped, as did her Centurion escorts. She turned, and looked up at the two of them while frowning.

"Listen to me," whispered Natalie as the two Centurions brought their left arms up, and activated their cannons. Natalie saw the weapons, and then brought her hands up, stepping back slightly while her heart raced. She knew that it was a risk, but she needed to try and get through to the centurions since the very existence of their species was being threatened, "we promised you and the other Centurions that we would avenge the wrongs that were committed to you and your ancestors. And we have. The Colonies have paid for what they have done to you. But these people we fight now are not Colonials, you must understand that…"

Natalie took a tumble onto the floor as the ship shook violently. She was then flung to what used to be the ceiling just before when there was a bright flash of light. She felt her skin peeling off thanks to intense heat before she opened her eyes and gasped while holding onto the sides of a tank full of an opaque, thick, liquid. Panting, Natalie looked around at the numerous other tanks, before she slowly calmed down and wiped the slime off her face.

'They destroyed the ship,' she thought to herself while she slowly stood up in the tank. Natalie looked around and saw that she was alone, but she knew she wouldn't be for much longer. The woman got out of the tank, and gently pressed her feet down onto the cold floor of the resurrection ship. She knew she needed to get out of there, she needed to get back to Caprica and talk to the people from Earth.

'We need to explain ourselves,' thought Natalie as she ran, the cold air causing goosebumbs to erupt on her nude body as she took cover behind a tank that contained another copy of her body. She peeked around the corner, and saw that Centurions had come to the tank where she had just risen from with their arm canons activated, 'no doubt Cavil already told his brothers to find me'.

Natalie then leaned with her back against the tank, and looked up from her hiding place, and frowned at all of her copies.

'Sorry, my sisters,' she thought to herself, 'you won't be boxed for long. I swear.'

Hearing the footsteps walking away from the tank she had just gotten out off, and heading towards her location, Natalie moved stealthily to another tank, and then another one. Eventually, three more Centurions, a Number Eight, a few Ones, and two Number Two were in her nearby vicinity. But Natalie kept on moving from one tank to another as quietly as possible. After a few near misses, Natalie made her way into the main area of the massive ship. Ducking into a locker area, she picked out some clothes, and then once she put them on, she peeked her head out of the room. She scrambled back inside upon seeing two Number Ones, and a Number Two rushing out of the resurrection room in the distance. Natalie breathed a sigh of relief after peeking out the corner again, and saw them head down a different hallway.

'Okay,' thought Natalie as she stepped into the hallway in a black halter-top and a pair of trousers. She looked around to make sure that the coast was clear before she strode towards one of the hanger bays, 'I need to find a Heavy Raider, and head to Caprica. These people are going to be furious and.. and with the weapons they have.. they could destroy us all. We need a peace, right now.'

**Avalon, above Caprica, at the same time.**

Vala's ears were ringing as she opened her eyes slowly, only to find herself lying down on her side under a toppled infirmary bed. The woman winced in pain as she used what strength she had to pushed the bed away before she groaned and slowly pushed herself up. Vala looked around and saw that the shelves that had contained bottles of medication, and cold stores of blood were all on the floor… the glass cases shattered. She covered her eyes from the sparks that erupted from the ceiling and stepped to one side while hearing groans all of the place. Limping past a few dangling panels, Vala came to the aid of one of the nurses who was lying under a ceiling panel. She moved it away, and then reached down to feel for a pulse.

'Nothing,' thought Vala as she looked up and saw others being helped up to their feet. She then went out to the hallway where her guards had just gone out to when the second attack started. Getting into the hallway, the dark haired alien frowned at the two bodies lying still on the floor. Looking away, and back into the infirmary where the remaining three dazed nurses, and a doctor where getting their bearings.

It was then that, out of the corner of her eyes, that Vala saw the mysterious man who was brought onto the Avalon earlier stirring awake after his bed had crashed onto the floor. Vala went out into the hallway again and bent down to get one of the guard's Zats and his sidearm while apologizing. She then got up and rushed back to the infirmary to see the man being helped up by a nurse, while the doctor was scoring the floor for something.

"Stand back," said Vala as she lifted the Zat while the nurses stepped back. Vala squeezed the bottom part of the weapon, and a bolt of blue energy shot out and hit the surprised man. She had overheard the doctor telling the guards earlier that the mysterious man was to be kept sedated at all times. Vala turned back to the others and asked if they were alright.

"Just some cuts and scrapes," replied a nurse while two others lifted the mysterious man as the doctor, with Vala's help, raised one of the beds. The two nurses then placed the man on the bed as Vala stepped back and told the doctor that she needed to contact the bridge. The doctor nodded his head before telling Vala to follow him. They rushed to a phone which the doctor picked up, and then handed to Vala after he pressed a number. While she placed the receiver onto her ear, the doctor and the nurses when out into the hallway to check personnel for injuries.

"Colonel Emerson," said Vala once the man activated the connection, "this is Vala, I'm in the infirmary and… well, one of the nurses is dead."

"We're getting the injured to the infirmary, Miss Mal Doran," yelled the Colonel as the ship banked to avoid more missiles before returning fire, "reports are coming in from all over the ship of robots attacking our people and…"

"I'll be much more useful in the fight, Colonel," said Vala as the doctor and nurses accompanied four injured, while three Marines brought in five other injured personnel. Vala looked at the bleeding forms before telling the Colonel that she could help repel these robots, all she needed were weapons."

"All of our ships have a limited supply of reverse engineered Kull armour, my Marines are already suiting up" said the Colonel, "we have personnel on decks one, two, and three putting on the Armour to repel these forces, but they're going to take a few minutes before they can intervene."

"I'm on deck five," said Vala, "is there an armoury here with the Kull armour?"

"No," said Colonel Emerson, "but there should be an armoury three doors to starboard. Code is four-four-One-Nine-Eight. We're working on getting our internal sensors back up, in the meantime.. grab radios from the armoury to contact the other teams. Miss Mal Doran, there are intruders on Deck Six. Our people are already taking on all of the intruders but they need backup."

"On my way," said Vala before putting the phone down. She ran out of the infirmary while calling for two of the S.F's to follow her while the rest protected the infirmary. She ran to the armoury, input the code in a side panel, and then stepped back as the door slid open. She smiled at the various weapons inside before running in with the S.F's. They grabbed vests, weapons with armour-piercing ammo, two grenade launchers, and a few hand-grenades before running out of there. It was a few seconds later that they reached a hatched, and then they climbed down to Deck Six. Exiting from another hatch, the three of them stepped into a hallway where they heard the sounds of gunshots reverberating through the metal hallways. As they made a left into the hallway, the three of them heard the sounds of thuds from behind them. With the three of them being in the open while hurrying backwards as they aimed at the area in front of them, Vala's eyes opened wide in surprise when she saw four seven-foot-tall chrome robots running towards them.

"That's something you don't see every day," whispered Vala as the robots slowed down and dropped a section of the hands, revealing cannons. Vala and the others started to run just as the robots started to fire. Turning into another hallway for cover, Vala and another S.F nodded their heads before stepping out into the hallway just as the robots came into view.

The entire hallway rocked due to the massive explosion that took out the four robots while Vala and the others took cover. Sighing in relief, Vala and the S.F's headed for the sounds of the gunshots were more Marines and S.F's were being pinned down by robots. While the alien space pirate was helping the Marines and S.F's take down the robots, down in deck ten, six of the chrome Centurions were pinning down another team that was under a massive amount of fire. They had only managed to take out four of the ten robots on that deck, but they were being hammered by the heavy weaponry they had brought in from their crashed ship.

"Retreat," yelled one of the S.F's who was defending the hallway to prevent the robots from getting further into the ship. He was about to make a move when orange bursts of energy passed overhead. Looking behind them, the Marines and S.F's saw two figures in head to toe black walking past them. The weapons fire from the Centurions hitting them harmlessly while they fire their plasma repeaters, effectively mowing down the robots until they fell onto the floor. Their bodies covered in smoke from the plasma bursts that tore through their bodies.

It would be a few minutes later that two more Marines in the Kull armour would destroy the Centurions that had pinned down Vala and the Marines, and S.F's on Deck Six. Another two would destroy the Centurions on Deck Nine, while one of them took care of the six that were still standing on Deck four. One the Centurions were all piles of scrap, the Marines helped take the injured, and dead, to the infirmary while notifying the Colonel through their radio's that the robot intruders were destroyed.

"I want all Marines in Kull Armour to the holding bay," said Colonel Emerson as he looked out the window at the large debris field of what used to be the Cylon Baseships floating around him. All in all, the Avalon had destroyed twenty three ships… but the small vessel was already out of missiles and railgun ammunition from the ones that had been working. The Colonel asked Major Evans if the sensors would be able to detect SG-1 if they entered the atmosphere of the planet below.

"It's possible, sir," said Major Evans.

"Take us in," said the Colonel, "and search for SG-1's transmitters."

"Understood, sir," said Major Evans.

**Surface of Caprica, that same time.**

They were surrounded.

It was a few minutes earlier, just after getting the call from Colonel Emerson on the Avalon while Colonel Mitchell and his team were just watching over the survivors, when a Heavy raider flew overhead. The ship was soon followed by five more, which then landed a few feet away from the Heavy Raider that SG-1 had commandeered. Willow, who could still feel pain from the burning of her skin despite that injury having been healed, stood up with the help of Tara and Buffy as the rear doors on the ships opened and released their cargo of Centurions.

She watched at the chrome robots ran towards them, with the survivors standing up screaming while Colonel Mitchell yelled at them to make a tight circle. As the robots surrounded them, aiming their arm cannons at the group, Colonel Mitchell and the others took out their Zats and aimed it at the group of humans. Sharon smiled while she was being held by Buffy by her arm, she could feel the Slayer's grip tightening just before she leaned sideways and smashed her head into Buffy's forehead.

"Hey!" yelled Colonel Mitchell as he turned his weapon at the humanoid Cylon who had her arm tightly held against the blonde Slayer's neck, and her other hand on the side of her head.

"Drop your weapons and surrender," yelled Sharon as she stepped back with Buffy. She leaned forward and whispered into Buffy's ear that even though she seemed to have a level of strength beyond a normal human, she could still break her neck before she even tried to escape, "and I'll order the Centurions to fire. I'm sure one of them could put the shield up using whatever way she did it before, but all that'll do is kill you. So tell them to lower their weapons, or you will die."

Buffy felt Sharon's hand on the side of her head, and knew that the Cylon could very well kill her by breaking her neck. She looked at Willow who was unarmed, the shadow pain on her hands made her unable to wield a Zat.

"Let her go," said Satterfield as she aimed her Zat, as did Grogan, at Sharon while Colonel Mitchell asked Tara to put a shield around them that would keep the Centurions on the outside. Tara nodded her head and raised a shield that covered them while the Colonials looked on amazed at the green hued energy field. They then looked at Sharon and Buffy who were within the shield, the former shouting at them that they weren't going to be saved, that they could try killing her… but all that would happen is that she would snap Buffy's neck before she was killed.

"I'm sure Cavil would activate you once we're with our brothers and sisters," said Sharon as she looked at Satterfield, "you're a sleeper agent, you have to be."

"I'm human," repeated Satterfield as she took a step forward and stopped, her Zat raised towards Sharon, "let her go."

"Drop. Your. Weapons," said Sharon as she glared at Satterfield, and then at the others, "or else I will…."

Sharon felt her hand being forced off the side of Buffy's head, as well as the arm that was being held on tight against her throat was jerked away. The Slayer dashed forward before leaning down to pick up her Zat, and then she turned around and aimed the activated weapon at the Humanoid Cylon. Buffy saw that Sharon was gasping for breath as she grabbed her throat, while flailing her arms towards Buffy… rasping with all her strength as she croaked for help.

"You feel that?" asked Willow as she walked towards Sharon, who looked up at the redhead, "that blockage in your throat? You know, the one blocking your intake of oxygen? Do you feel this?"

Sharon then felt her heart tighten as she grabbed her chest with her free hand.

"That's me squeezing your heart," whispered Willow as she stood next to Buffy, "now, tell these Centurions to stand down, and I'll stop. Is that clear?"

Sharon nodded her head before she felt oxygen entering her body after taking a deep breath, and after the tightness in her chest vanished. She glared at the redhead and wondered, 'what are you?' Sharon looked back at the Centurions, and ordered them to fire at the shield with everything they had. Just as the Centurions opened fire, there was an electronic sound just before a blue blot of energy hit the Number Eight's body. The energy crackled all over her body before she collapsed onto the grass, while the Colonials were screaming at the sounds of thunder from the Centurions as they continuously fired at the shield.

"That could have gone better," said Grogan as he looked around at the Centurions while the shield flared. It was then that everyone looked up upon hearing a boom from the sky above them.

"It's the Avalon!" yelled Colonel Mitchell as they watched the Avalon break through the clouds and dust while being chased by numerous fighters that were firing at the ship. He tried to contact the ship through his subspace radio, but receiving just static on the other end. It was Willow who said, as she looked at the destruction on the ship from where they were standing, that the communications systems could have been damaged.

"Understood," said Colonel Mitchell as they watched the ship bank towards them. The Colonel then punched the air when the Ancient weapons were used to destroy one small ship after another. SG-1 then looked on confused as the ship went back up through the clouds while being chased by the Raiders. The Colonials were mumbling amongst themselves about the strange ship stopping when they heard humming sound passing over them. They looked up, but saw nothing there.

Carolanne Adama was about to go to Colonel Mitchell and ask him what was going on, but she could see that he was confused as well by what just happened. She asked the other Colonials to calm sdown, saying that there aliens had rescued them… that if they had any evil uses for them, then they would have been in danger by now. Her hands up as she tried to coax the Colonial's down from demanding to be let go once the Centurions were taken care off, Carolanne then turned around towards the 'aliens' when she heard one of them laughing and pointing at the distance; a few meters away.

She had heard Willow laughing and nodding her head; the redhead was looking beyond the lines of Centurions as she pointed at nothingness. What Carolanne didn't know was that Willow had felt them, she felt their nervousness at seeing the sheer number of Centurions and wondering if their Armour could take it. Willow looked over her shoulder and called for Colonel Mitchell; she told him that they had backup.

The cloaked Jumper landed on the green grass a few meters away from the Centurions that were firing at the shield. Captain Connors, one of the Avalon crew with the Ancient gene, then opened the rear of the ship as seven Marines in Kull armour walked out with the back of the Centurions facing them.

"Oh, you things are done now," whispered Satterfield when she saw the people suited in the black armour appearing out of thin air. Even the Colonials gasped at what they were seeing as the Marines raised their arms and started to fire plasma bursts at the Centurions. The Colonials watched as the robots were destroyed on after the other, they saw the Centurions shooting back at the figures in black, but the bullets weren't harming them in any way or form. The Colonials saw the figures in black continuing to fire until all the Centurions were destroyed; just piles of smoking scrap on the green grass.

"Colonel Mitchell," said one of the armoured Marines, his voice gravelly because of the helmet, "Major Irwin, sir. We have orders to bring you back to the Avalon."

"We have survivors that we need to take with us, Major," said the Colonel as the man nodded his head. Major Irwin turned around and ordered five on his men to stay on the planet while the Puddle Jumper was used to evacuate the survivors to the Avalon. The Major explained to Colonel Mitchel what happened on the ship when it had been standing still against the Baseships; and the need for the ship to keep on moving since another three Baseships had entered orbit. As some of the Colonials were being loaded into the Puddle Jumper with Satterfield and Grogan, the Major told the others that since the subspace communications were damaged, they were using Vala's communication systems to relay information to the bridge.

"Vala's up there?" asked Buffy.

"Neat," replied Willow as Carolanne stepped into the Jumper nervously after having thanked Colonel Mitchell for saving their lives. The man nodded his head before the rear ramp closed, and the first batch of fifteen survivors were taken to the Avalon which had just destroyed two of the three Baseships. It would be ten minutes later that the rest of SG-1, the survivors, and the Marines in the Kull armour, would be taken to the Avalon just as six more Baseships arrived in orbit.

And among those ships, was a lone Heavy Raider that was piloted by the Humanoid Cylon known as Natalie. She looked at the debris all around in shock, and then watched as the Avalon destroyed one more vessel while her shields flared yellow.

"This is now or never," said Natalie to herself as she flew her heavy raider towards the Avalon, and past the Baseships that were firing on the Earth ship. Natalie activated her wireless, and then sent a radio signal, " _my name is Natalie Faust, I am calling the vessel of the Thirteenth Tribe, the Avalon. I am requesting Asylum, do you copy... I am requesting asylum."_

TBC.

 


	8. Chapter 8

**Orbit over Caprica, ten minutes into rescue of SG-1.**

The Avalon was weaving in and out of the surrounding debris as it used half of the Ancient weapon turrets to fire at the Cylon Raisers that were attacking her from all sides, and the other half were being used to fire on the six Baseships that arrived in flashes of white light. Colonel Emerson had been notified that the remaining members of SG-1, together with his armoured Marines, and the survivors that were with SG-1 had boarded the ship through the holding bay. Colonel Emerson had already ordered the first batch to be sent to the Mess Hall if no-one was injured, he did want an unknown group to run around the ship; and that was the same order he gave to Colonel Mitchell when he returned with the second batch.

"Captain Stevens," said the Colonel as the Avalon fired a volley of the Ancient energy pulses towards one of the Baseships, "set course for the nearest planet with a Stargate. I want to send a message to Stargate Command and give them our situation."

"Understood, Sir," said the Captain just as a female voice came over their radio.

Colonel Emerson leaned forward as the voice spoke in Ancient Greek. Shaking his head, the man then pressed a button on his command chair and called for Tara, who was telling the survivors to follow the officers that they would be taken to safety, to pick up the phone. The young blonde nodded her head and then quickly headed for a phone at a corner of the holding bay while Buffy and the others were guiding the Colonials away from the large chamber. Picking up the phone, Tara was connected to Colonel Emerson who asked her to listen in to the message which was being repeated.

"She's says her name is Natalie Faust, she's asking for asylum, Colonel," said Tara as she watched Willow run up to her. The redhead whispered, while Colonel Emerson was giving Tara a message to send to the humanoid Cylon, that she was heading to the engineering room to find a way to repair the subspace communications system. Tara nodded her head before Willow gently squeezed her arm, and then turned running towards engineering while Buffy and Colonel Mitchell accompanied the Colonials to the Mess Hall.

Alone with the armoured Marines, Tara then sent a message through the phone, and into the radio communications systems.

" _I am speaking on behalf of Colonel Paul Emerson of the Avalon,"_ said Tara as Natalie weaved her ship in and out of the line of fire as well, _"you will be taken in for questioning before your claim for asylum can be even thought about. There are many question that our people have for you. You are not to arm your ship, and if you yourself are armed with any weapon... then you are to place them of the floor after opening your hatch. You will then go down on your knees, and put your hand behind your head. If you resist, our Marines will fire on you. Is that understood?"_

" _Yes!"_ screamed Natalie over the radio in the bridge, and on the phone that was glued to a worried Tara's ear _, "help me! I am under attack!"_

"Colonel," said Tara, "she says that she agrees to the conditions, but she's under attack."

"Understood," said the Colonel before he turned to Major Evans, "Major, can we get a transporter lock?"

"Our Asgard transporters are still iffy, sir," said the young man looking back at him, "the initial attack hit the sensors. They're still not back up."

"This is Colonel Emerson to Captain Connors in the holding bay," said the Colonel over the P.A. system. With the other two pilots with the Ancient gene, Buffy and Willow, unavailable, and because of Natalie's distress, the Colonel ordered Captain Connors back out into space with the Puddle Jumper. The Captain, a short brown haired, dark skinned young man closed the rear ramp as she ran back into the ship. Sitting at the controls, he activated the holographic HUD and launched the ship. It sped through the open doorway through the Ancient shields and then out into space.

" _Natalie,"_ said Tara gently as she watched the Jumper take off _, "we've launched a ship to help you. Do you see it? It's cylindrical in shape and…"_

" _Yes!"_ yelled Natalie as she banked her heavy raider as the Jumper shot past her. She then looked at the DRADIS on her console and saw that the four raiders after her were all destroyed in one go. Wondering what just happened, she heard Tara telling her that she needed to follow the brownish cylindrical ship back to the Avalon's holding bay. IN the meantime, Tara looked on as four S.F's ran into the bay, and stood next to her while holding M16's in their arms, followed by Vala who exited her Tel'tak, and yelled at Tara. The blonde witch smiled and waved at her, motioning her to join them while she continued to talk to the worried Natalie who said that the Jumper was being attacked.

Out of ammunition in her heavy raider, all Natalie could do was weave in and out of the way as the ship in front of her completed manoeuvres that she knew was impossible. At least for a human being. What surprised her even more was when she came about, and witnessed the Jumper banking in one direction to avoid the four raiders that were firing at it while, at the same time, firing what seemed like four bright yellow missiles form its short, stubby wings. Natalie watched at the missiles went through one raider after another, including the three that were shooting at her. All seven raiders were destroyed before the Jumper flipped end over end in mid-motion before shooting towards the Avalon.

And the amazed Natalie could only follow, all the while conscious of the fact that she was losing oxygen thanks to the last attack. One of the raider's rounds had penetrated the Hull just before it was destroyed. With a lull in the fighting as another two Basestars were destroyed with the Avalon now standing still to receive the Jumper and the Heavy raider, Natalie saw a flash of yellow around the ship. Unknown to the Cylon, the shields were temporarily put down to allow the Heavy Raider through. Once it was in the hold next to the Tel'tak, and then the Jumper which touched down… Tara told the Colonel that Natalie was on board.

"Get us to P7T-983," yelled Colonel Emerson. That particular planet was the closest one, other than Caprica, with a Stargate. The small ship accelerated forward while firing one last volley at the nearby Basestars before a hyperspace window opened up mid-space. The Avalon then entered the window, which closed behind it, and Colonel Emerson sighed in relief. The man rubbed his forehead before getting off his command chair; he ordered Major Evans to take over until he got back from the infirmary, saying he needed to know the damage that was done to his ship. Then just before he left, Colonel Emerson turned around and ordered Major Evans to begin the transfer of magazines from the damaged railguns, to the ones that were still working.

"On it, sir," said t eh Major nodding his head.

"Oh, and get that individual who just landed to the brig, together with the one that was brought on board by SG-1," said the Colonel before he left the bridge. While the Colonel was headed for the infirmary, Tara, Vala… both of whom had their Zats ready, along with the four Marines, aimed their weapons at the opening rear ramp of the Heavy Raider. Cautious, the five of them looked on as a dirty blonde woman in a black halter-top, and trouser was on her knees looking at them with fear in her eyes. Her hand were behind her head as the Marines went into the ship first, before Tara and Vala entered.. keeping their weapons trained on her.

" _Natalie Faust?"_ asked Tara. Natalie nodded her head while she looked at Tara, and then at the others around her.

" _They're all different,'_ she thought to herself before looking at Tara, and the others Marines, and then back at Tara once again.

The S.F's told Tara what they needed Natalie to do, and the blonde translated their demands. Tara and Vala watched, while their Zats were trained on her, as she stood up and the S.F's put her hands behind her back before handcuffing her. Captain Evans; voice then came through the P.A. system and asked that the prisoners be taken to the brig. Tara translated what the Major said to Natalie, who nodded her head. As they were heading out of the Heavy Raider, Tara also added that the Colonel would want to talk to her soon… at least once he was done looking over the damage done to the ship.

All Natalie could do was nod her head as she walked towards the Bay exit to the hallways inside the ship. She looked over her shoulder, and stared in wonder at the two strange ships next to her own; the cylindrical ship that escorted her Heavy Raider into the Avalon, and one that was dark grey in colour, and looked like a swept back pyramid. Pursing her lips together, the blonde was then led out of the bay, and into the hallways were she saw some of the damage that was wrought on the vessel.

**Mess Hall, Avalon, a few minutes later.**

While Natalie and Sharon were being held in the brig, while the other humanoid Cylon in the infirmary was handcuffed to the bed, Carolanne and the Colonial survivors were taken to the slightly damaged Mess Hall. They had seen some personnel fixing the panels before looking back at the newcomers as Satterfield directed everyone to take a seat at the available tables. Carolanne looked around her as everyone started to grumble, and she could feel the tension in the air... all directed at the one who called herself Satterfield.

Carolanne couldn't believe that it was possible; she had seen the Cylons before in the First War… in fact, she had lost her uncle in the First Cylon war; and none of the machines looked even remotely human.

'They looked like walking chrome toasters,' thought Carolanne to herself as she held on to the child, who in turn had been holding on to her ever since Caprica, and watched with a growing sense of fear at the other Colonials shouting out at Satterfield. The shouting was growing louder as Satterfield, surrounded by Colonel Mitchell, Buffy, and Grogan. There were others who, from what Carolanne could see, were armed personnel who rushed in due to the growing commotion, put her hands up and tried to raise her voice over the shouts of 'Cylon', 'Toaster', skinjob, and other creative word choices.

"Everyone stand down!" yelled Colonel Mitchel in the language that Carolanne didn't recognize. She then listened to Satterfield translating what he had just said, which Carolanne found od especially since they had been speaking flent Colonial Standard only a few minutes ago. However, unknown to her, Tara's magic faded away the moment they had left Caprica's orbit. Since Tara's magic was connected to the planet, it automatically went away. Carolanne saw that Colonel MItchell had his hands waving downwards, signalling everyone to calm down and take a seat. Carolanne was shaking her head while she looked at the frightened children who were around the room, and then turned to look at Satterfield saying that the children were getting scared.

" _It's because of you! Cylon!"_ screamed a few of the refugees. While the others screamed out ' _Freaks'_.

Carolanne closed her eyes and shook her head, she tried to get the shouting all around her to the back of her mind as she remembered her sons, Lee and Zack. She knew that she wasn't a great mother, especially ever since their father hadn't always been there. She knew it was something she hadn't forgiven her ex-husband for, but this was the present day… and things had changed.

All of their lives had changed irreparably.

" _Shut up!"_ screamed Carolanne at the top of her voice as she looked at everyone, and repeated herself. Even the people who had rescued them were looking at her as she spoke in Ancient Greek, " _these people have rescued us. Without them, we would most likely be dead, or at the hands of the Cylons. I know we're afraid, I can tell you that I'm terrified… but where else could we go? We've seen their technology; advanced armour, weapons, for frack's sake they have a ship that can cloak. They saved our lives; and look at us, this is who we are when we're at our lowest point? We let fear of our rescuers blind us to the very fact that we were rescued! Does it matter how, or who, did it? We were fracking rescued."_

" _She's a Cylon!"_ screamed two men as they pointed at Satterfield who could only rub her forehead in frustration before releasing a sigh _, "and… and that woman… the red and yellow haired women. We were at the electronic store and they were… were freaks who…"_

" _Who saved your lives, sir,"_ said Satterfield who stepped forward, her tone of voice angry. It was something that Colonel Mitchell noticed, so he placed a hand on her shoulder and pulled her back gently.

The Colonel glanced over at Carolanne, and nodded his head at the woman. He then turned to Satterfield, who apologized to the Colonel for her outburst before agreeing to translate a message that he was about to give the Colonials.

"All of you are not our prisoners," said the Colonel as Satterfield translated, "you are our guests. But, we cannot have you walking around the ship given the damage that we've sustainedere. There are going to be personnel conducting repairs, and given that this is a military vessel.. we cannot have anyone from a foreign power walk around the ship without an escort. Before any of you complain? No, we are not these Cylon characters.. the fact of the matter is that we have never heard of Cylons, nor have we ever heard of your people."

" _Ridiculous,"_ said a middle-aged woman who was well dressed in a dark pin striped suit while fingering a necklace around her throat _, "we are the only humans in the galaxy, and…"_

"Yea, about that." The Colonel rubbed the back of his head while recalling what Willow had told them in the museum about Kobol, and how the ancient Kobolians over time taught one generation after another that Kobol was the home of humanity, not Earth. The man had no intention of starting a riot in the ship, so all he told the civilians was that what they had to say about where they were from was meant for those in their government and military.

" _So you really are aliens?"_ asked Carolanne.

"Technically, yea," replied the Colonel after Satterfield translated what Carolanne had asked. The man then rubbed his hands together before saying that he and the others had to leave and help the personnel around the rest of the ship, "once I know the next plan, I will let you guys know. And no... you will not be kept prisoner here, but I'm guessing that your home worlds are so irradiated that we can't leave you back there in good conscious. It's up to your government now. So, just rest up… we'll have someone come with coffee for the adults, and some hot chocolate for the kids."

After Satterfield finished translating what the Colonel had said, she couldn't help but smile at the smiles on the faces of the children in the room upon hearing the words 'hot chocolate'. She, Buffy, Grogan, and the Colonel then left the Mess Hall while two S.F's remained guard at the only entrance in the walled room.

**Conference Room, Thirty minutes later.**

It would be nearly thirty minutes later that Colonel Emerson would meet with SG-1 in the ship's conference room for a quick briefing before heading the Avalon exited the hyperspace tunnel. With Buffy and Tara occasionally checking on the Colonials in the Mess Hall who had calmed down, they didn't have much to tell the Colonel other than the fact that they were worried about what was going to happen next.

"As they should," said Tara who was sitting down and shaking her head at the Colonel who was at the head of the table.

"Yeah," replied the Colonel rubbing the back of his head, "before I ask the question I really want an answer to, Captain Rosenberg.. how goes the repair on the subspace communication systems? Can you and the others somehow…"

"Sorry, sir," replied Willow before the Colonel could finish asking his question, "we tried to reroute to our secondary communications array, but both that and the primary ones have been destroyed. We literally need to go back to Area 51 to replace them."

"So we need to use the Stargate either way," said the Colonel while Willow nodded her head. It was then that the Colonel sighed, rubbed his face, and then leaned forward before asking, "what the hell just happened?"

"Sir," said Colonel Mitchell, "we just experienced a nuclear war."

"I got that," replied Colonel Emerson, "what I'd like to know is why? Did you get anything from the survivors when you were on the planet?"

"Sir," asked Willow, "how much do you know about me? I mean, do you know everything?"

"Yes," replied the Colonel as the redhead leaned forward, put her arms on the table, and sighed.

Willow hadn't told them what else she had learnt from her returning memories when they were down on the planet while they were waiting around the Heavy Raider, a few minutes before getting rescued by the Avalon. She wanted to let them know what she recalled when they were alone, without the Colonials listening in to them since they were speaking Ancient Greek; she didn't want the Colonials to know what she knew.

"We're in the middle of a blood feud," said Willow, her face expressionless. She gave Colonel Emerson the same information she had given her teammates while they were in the library a few hours before the bombs fell. It was just then that the Colonel knew about Kobol, the fake Earth that Willow had sent the Furling Organic Drones to when she was still ascended, and everything else that SG-1 had already known. But it was what came later that surprised everyone at the conference table, "After my exile on Earth, I returned to Kobol and there was nothing there. So Hera and I traveled the stars, but our powers still kept on increasing because people were worshiping us. Eventually it got so much that I searched out the source again, and I came to the Twelve Colonies."

"So you were here, ma'am?" asked Grogan.

"Yeah," Willow replied as she looked at the table, a faraway look in her eyes, "they were much more technologically advanced than Earth, than many others civilizations. I mean they were nothing compared to the Goa'uld, Asgard, or the Nox, or the Tollan, but they were way above the tech that Earth had at that point in time."

"So these robots…. These Cylons?" asked Satterfield, "they were there then?"

"I was at the museum on Delphi when I saw my first Cylon," said Willow, "it was behind a glass case, apparently it was one of the models that prevented terrorists from blowing up a stadium. It was supposed to be a hero, or something. That was the first time… anyway, I left soon after some kid spilled his drink on my dress and… and I can't remember him for some reason. I…"

"Captain?" asked the Colonel, "continue."

"Sorry," Willow shook her head before telling the team and Colonel Emerson, that she returned a few years later to check on their progress, "by then the Colonials were treating the Cylons like slaves. They did everything from taking out the garbage, to walking their dogs, to serving in their military and fighting their wars, there were butlers; name it, they did it. But many gained sentience. They wanted freedom and… and that's when I knew that the programming the Colonials used for the Cylon robots were the same programming that was used for the Organic Drones that belonged to the Furlings."

"Their A.I could evolve," said Buffy who leaned back on her seat while Willow nodded her head, "they wanted to be free?"

"Yeah," replied Willow, "some even began believing in a God. I couldn't believe it, they evolved so much from the last time I saw them. But… but I was there.. I was there the day the first shot was fired. The shot that started the war."

"Which was?" asked Colonel Mitchel.

"Like I said, they used robots for everything, including looking after their children, and even as teachers," said Willow shaking her head, "like any human, some of the robots wanted to be free, while some others wanted to just stay how they were. They were sentient, but.. but they wanted to just live their artificial lives. However, they were evolving too fast… and some, a tiny fraction, started to experience emotions. It's weird, but I remember it just like yesterday."

"What happened?" asked Tara.

"A robot in a school lost its temper… I mean it was angry," said Willow, "it ran into teh building, and killed.. killed nearly everyone."

Everyone looked at the table as Willow told them about how the robot was eventually put down by the military after it killed numerous teachers and students, followed by numerous police officers. She continued to say that after that incident, there was a crackdown on the Cylons. They were going to be forcibly reprogrammed, starting with the military robots, "many fought back. I couldn't stand by and watch, so I left."

"No interference," mumbled Colonel Mitchell.

"No," mumbled Willow, "no interference. I returned five years later, and it was hell. Millions had died on either side. The situation with the robots and humans were already a huge powderkeg, and the murderous rampage in the school was the match that lit the fuse. I saw the Cylons get torn apart, and I saw Colonials; men, women, and children die. I had enough of war, so I left the Milky Way, and met up with Hera. But everywhere I went, there was war… and eventually I went back to the Destiny."

"Destiny?" asked Colonel Mitchell.

"Long story, sir," said Willow shaking her head, "after traveling for a while longer, I came back to Sunnydale. And the rest is history."

"And the Cylons came back," said Satterfield as she watched the video of the mysterious man shouting at Colonel Emerson, "to punish their parents."

"By killing them all," said Grogan, "Genocide."

"Okay," said Colonel Emerson as he rubbed his forehead before looking up at SG-1, "so we know the Cylon's reasons for going after the Colonials, no matter how demented they sound. But for right now, we need a way to fight them. They've been using a different form of faster than light travel that…"

"Furling Point Drive technology," said Willow as everyone looked at her, "I'm sorry… but I never expected that we'd ever come to the Colonies, and before we stepped through the Stargate, I didn't even remember them. I'm still getting used to everything… all my memories of my ascension are like pieces that fall into place when I experience something familiar."

"Can this point drive thing be stopped?" asked the Colonel, "the Cylons planes jumped into the Asgard shields, and that's how they… well… you've seen the state of the systems on the ship."

"I saw the sensor readings before everything went offline," said Colonel Mitchell, "it's a cool feature, this jumping tech."

Everyone then looked at Colonel Mitchell, who said he was sorry, "I know it caused all this damage, but it's still something that we could use in our ships. I mean we have one of their ships in the holding bay. We could take a look at it."

"Sir, it's not everything it's cracked up to be, there is a reason that the Furlings eventually used Hyperdrive," said Willow as she spoke to Colonel Mitchell, and then she turned to Colonel Emerson, "Sir, I suggest all our ships use the Ancient shielding system. The Point Drive system needs an opening, or else they'll be jumping into the ship. With the Ancient shield hugging the hull, they won't have an opening to jump between the shields and the ship."

"It'll be suicide for the pilots if they even try with the Ancient shields," said Buffy winching when she imagined dozens of fighters suddenly jumping into the ship, destroying themselves and the Earth vessel.

"The Point Drive System needs a fixed end point," said Willow, "Colonel Emerson, our ships need to be constantly moving. That way, they'll find it harder to get a fix on us."

"When we reach our destination," said Colonel Emerson, "I want everything we learnt to be sent to the SGC. We need a way to get an advantage over these Cylons."

"Understood, sir," replied Colonel Mitchell.

"We'll talk about the Point Drive, or whatever it is that the Colonials and Cylons call it, at another time," said the Colonel, "our main issue is to get these survivors to a safe place, then we contact the SGC, and then… well, let's see what General Landry says about our prisoners, and our asylum seeker. Dismissed."

TBC.

 


	9. Chapter 9

**Avalon, ten minutes to P7T-983.**

Natalie looked around the room that the humans, the ones that she had called the Thirteenth Tribe, had put her, and then both Sharon and the man from the Ragnar Anchorage in earlier. The both of them were unconscious when they were brought in, but the humans wouldn't tell her what happened as she was told to step back by the one who had introduced herself as Tara. She was accompanied by four guards, two of whom pointed their weapons at Natalie, weapons that the humanoid Cylon noticed were Colonial in appearance. She then looked down at their hips, and noticed the strange holstered weapon that seemed to be purple in colour.

To Natalie, it looked more alien than anything else, but then she thought to herself that the Thirteenth Tribe probably were more alien to them, than the Colonials.

'They could be more technologically advanced,' thought Natalie to herself when the guards had pointed their weapons at her, along with Tara. At the same time, Sharan and the other man were brought in by the other two guards. The room that Natalie had found herself in had two bunk beds on either side, so Sharon was kept on the lower bunk of the bed on the left, and the man was kept on the lower bunk of the bed on the right side of the room.

Back in the present time, Natalie looked out something that she couldn't believe when they had first put her in the room.

It was a window. She was looking out a window into a blue and white tunnel.

'I guess with energy shields,' thought Natalie to herself while she placed her hand on the window, and placed her forehead on the warm glass, 'these people could afford to have windows that looked out into space. This technology, it's… I know the Number Six who conspired with Baltar received codes to infiltrate the Colonial Military mainframe, so we know that all of these are just theoretical at this point for them. But for another species of humans to go this far…'

Coming out of her thoughts, Natalie turned and looked at the groaning Sharon who was slowly opening her eyes, and then at the man who placed an arm on his forehead while groaning that his head hurt.

"We need to talk," said Natalie as the man slowly sat up and shook his head, and then wiped his face with his hands, before looking up at Natalie with recognition in his eyes. As did Sharon who slowly stood up, the three of them sharing their identification wirelessly thanks to their implants at the base of their skulls, "Sharon, Leoben."

"Natalie," started Sharon as she slowly got up off the bed. She then shook her head again before placing her hands on her hips and asking if they knew what happened, "and what that woman did. She.. she needs to be brought to Cavil and…"

"That's not happening," said Natalie as she walked towards Sharon and Leoben, "things have changed."

"How so?" asked Leoben as he looked around the room, and then back at Natalie, "and where are we?"

"IN the Brig on a ship called the Avalon," said Natalie as she braced herself for the questions that she knew would be coming from the Number Eight, and Number Two, "it's an Earth Vessel."

**Avalon Bridge, ten minutes later.**

While Natalie was answering the questions that both the surprised Sharon and Leoben had with whatever limited knowledge she had been able to gain, the both of them felt a slight jerk before looking out the window.

They were looking at normal space and at the stars beyond the window, and headed for a nearby planet. The three of them then looked at each other with Sharon and Leoben wondering what they had just gotten themselves into.

Meanwhile, on the bridge of the ship, where SG-One were standing with Vala by their side.. particularly next to Colonel Mitchell, Colonel Emerson had ordered the launch of the Puddle Jumper. They watched the small ship head down into the atmosphere of the planet below, the plan being that the Jumper would dial the Stargate, and the Avalon would communicate with the SGC through their radio. The Colonel had already wrestled on whether he should take the vessel down to the surface, instead he opted to stay in orbit and wait for orders. It was a few minutes later that a voice came through the radio in the bridge saying the Jumper had made contact with the SGC.

"SGC to the Avalon," said Walter, who heard General Landry rushing down the stairs behind him once he was notified that the Avalon was on the radio, "stand by for General Landry."

"Copy," replied Colonel Emerson. IT was a few seconds later that the familiar voice of General Landry came over the speakers.

"General Landry to Avalon, what is your status?"

"We have a long story, sir," said the Colonel who looked back at SG-1, and then back at the front window which showed the planet below, "first of all, we have SG-1. They're safe. Second, we lost all subspace communications. We were attack by an enemy. Sir, the Jumper we used to dial has a data crystal with what we know so far. Captain Rosenberg's suggestion is to use the Ancient shielding systems, these… Cylons, have a unique type of FTL. Captain Rosenberg has sent along her experiences with these… things, sir."

"I take it she encountered them when she was ascended?"

The Colonel then turned back and looked at Willow, and nodded his head. Willow then gave a quick rundown of what she knew about the Furlings' Organic Drones, and their similarity to the Cylons, that some seemed to have taken human form, and that any ships that encountered them needed to use a system similar to the ones that the Ancients had once used.

"I'll notify our ships, and the Free Jaffa," said General Landry.

"General, sir," said Colonel Mitchell, "there are a lot of scared people there on…. Umm… what was the planet again?"

"Caprica, sir," whispered Buffy.

"Right, Caprica," said the Colonel nodding his head, "they'll have injured, and they'll need food, and medicine."

"I want to make sure that the area above the planet is clear," said General Landry, "the Odyssey is nearly close to this Galactica. Colonel Pendergast will make contact, and stay with them until they are ready to fight. In the meantime, Colonel Emerson, how are your systems?"

"Our Asgard shields are offline but our Ancient shielding is active, half of the Ancient weapons are active and we still managed to destroy a few of the alien ships before heading out into hyperspace," said the Colonel proudly, "we're currently moving magazines from the railguns that have been damaged to the ones that are still operational. That would take about an hour while the engineering teams try and get some of the other systems up and running."

"I take it the Asgard sensors are working as well?"

"Yes," said Colonel Emerson, "but not our transporters."

"Injuries?" asked the General.

"Ten dead, twenty injured… five of them critically, sir," said the Colonel. The man could see the General frowning in his minds eyes at hearing the numbers. The ship had a total of eighty personnel, and now they had thirty of them dead or injured in one day. Colonel Emerson told the General that the ship could still be operated with their present crew, "but we need a medical crew on the surface, sir."

"But your crew will be transferred to the SGC through the Stargate and…"

"We have survivors from Caprica, sir," said the Colonel before General Landry could finish what he wanted to say, "we couldn't bring them to the Galactica since that was a battleship… and no place for civilians. So we brought them with us."

"I'll have Dr. Lam and Dr. Fraiser ready with their teams," said the General as he tapped on Walter's shoulder. The bald technician then went on the microphone and asked Dr. Lam, the General's daughter, and Dr. Janet Fraiser to report to the Gateroom with their medical teams. He then had SG 13 and 14 get ready, while the General was telling Colonel Emerson that those teams would be there to provide security for the Earth doctors led by Dr. Fraiser, while Dr. Lam would be checking on those who were injured off-word, and then sending them through the Stargate to Earth.

"We'll have SG-13 and 14 set up a medical base with Dr. Fraiser for the Colonials," said General Landry, "and I'll have a few translators sent to you."

"Understood," said Colonel Emerson as Willow, Vala, Grogan, Buffy, and Tara, who could feel the magic emanating from the planet below, headed for the damaged railguns so that they could held transfer the magazines to the undamaged railguns. After the Colonel had allowed the five of them to go, he then turned to Colonel Mitchell before looking forward and asking over the radio if the General wanted Colonel Mitchel and SG-1 as part of an Away team.

"Yes," said the General. The commander of the SGC then told Colonel Emerson that the Odyssey would simply be holding station and guarding the Galactica against any attack. He then told Colonel Emerson and Colonel Mitchell that the IOA would have to be brought into the picture since the Avalon was attacked by an unknown enemy, and without provocation, so that they could figure out the next step.

But for now, they were to only protect the Galactica until a decision was made by the IOA on any form of intervention. It was something that Colonel Emerson wasn't too fond off; something he was definitely certain General O'Neill wasn't fond of at all given that the SGC was able to fund itself for years thanks to the U.K agreeing to hand the SGC three quarters of the treasure found at the Glastonbury Tor cavern as thanks for proving the legend of Merlin

"Sir," said Colonel Emerson, "we have three of these humanoid Cylons on board. One of them is the man we beamed onto the ship, another is a female who tried to turn on SG-1 back on the planet, and the other one is a woman who came to us willingly; said something about us being some Thirteenth Tribe."

"Which Captain Rosenberg has already included in her report, General," said Colonel Mitchell, "it'll be sent to you via the subspace databurst from the Puddle Jumper, sir."

It was just then that Walter looked back at the General and nodded his head, signalling that the transfer from the storage crystal on the Jumper to the SGC was complete.

"We have the databurst, Avalon," said the General through the radio as the Puddle Jumper headed back up to the Earth ship, "Dr. Lam and Dr. Fraiser, along with their teams, SG-13 and SG-14, will be on planet in thirty minutes."

"Understood, sir," said Colonel Emerson, "I will have the dead and injured personnel sent down to the planet, and then once they have been sent through the Stargate to Earth, I'll send the Colonials."

"Sounds like a plan, Colonel," said the General, "Landry out."

"Colonel Mitchell," said Colonel Emerson, "I want you to coordinate the evacuation of our injured personnel to the Jumpers and then down to the planet. Once everyone's been given triage with Dr. Lam and her team, I want you back on the Avalon coordinating with the Colonials. Have Miss Maclay explain to them the situation, and that they would be receiving medical care on the surface."

"Understood," came the reply before Colonel Mitchell turned and rushed out of the bridge.

**Orbit of Ragnar, One Hour later; two hours after the initial first contact between the Avalon and Galactica.**

In the orbit of the blue hued gas giant of Ragnar, there were multiple flashes of light that simply appeared and then vanished. Those lights left behind multiple ships that flew towards the eye of the storm that led to the Ragnar Anchorage. Led by the ship that carried the President, Colonial One, the group of seventy ships made their way towards the eye of the storm while looking at their DARDIS consoles for any signs of the Cylons. With the threat of the Cylons still imminent, it was Apollo who had been vocal in getting the President to get her goal of offloading the passengers from the ships that had no FTL drives.

Once Sharon Valerii had used her Raptor to gather even more ships to the President's location, those ships were used as passenger ferries to pick up people from the non-FTL capable ships as well. With Colonial One near capacity, as were some of the other ships, Apollo received the order to jump to the rendezvous point when a Cylon raider scout appeared. Apollo then urged the President that it was time to leave, that they had to leave the rest of the ships that had no FTL, but still many people, behind to the same rendezvous point that his father, Commander Adama had ordered him to go to ever since Admiral Nagala's ship was destroyed.

The fact of the matter was that he didn't know of all of the fleet was gone, all he knew was that humanity had lost. The Cylons had succeeded, finally, in wiping them out. With his Viper damaged, and the Raptor that carried Sharon, the Chief Scientist Gaius Baltar, and various other survivors in the hold of Colonial One, Apollo was seated on the co-pilot seat next to the Captain of Colonial One, with the President standing in between them behind their seats. She was looking out the cockpit window at the star field, and then down at the gas giant below while a shawl hung around her shoulders.

"Can we contact the Galactica from here?" asked Roslin gently while holding onto the seat backs in front of her.

"Sorry, Madam President," replied Apollo after looking at the Captain who shook his head, "the radiation within the storm is preventing all wireless traffic, it's going to even affect DRADIS."

"So they can't see us?" asked Billy, the President's aide, who was standing next to her.

"Not until we're right on them," said the Captain.

"Madam President, we have to go in through the eye of the storm," explained Apollo, "when we're in range, we could contact them via wireless and…"

"By the gods," exclaimed the Captain as he leaned forward and looked out at a blue hued tear that just opened out in space. Apollo, Roslin, the other crew member, and then Billy looked out the window at where the Captain was pointing as a strange ship shot out through the breach which then closed behind it.

"Captain Apollo?" asked Roslin, who was still looking at the ship which turned towards her fleet and then stopped. Apollo looked back at the President and told her that he didn't recognize the design.

"It could be Cylon," said the Captain as he leaned forward and reached for a button, "Madam President, our FTL's will take a few minutes to spool up but…"

"We won't make it," said Apollo as he stared at the ship that was hanging in space, the forward neck section facing them. He swore he could see turrets all over the ship, and then there were the handers bays that were lit; he could see black spots through them, 'are those fighters?'

"Billy," said Roslin, "get me Dr. Baltar."

Nodding his head, Billy ran off while Roslin looked back out at the ship just as the crew member, Apollo, and the Captain tapped their headsets at the same time while staring at each other in surprise. They then looked up at the President who demanded to know what had gotten them so spooked.

"I'll put the message on the speaker," replied the Captain as he leaned forward and hurriedly flipped some switches.

" _Unknown vessels, my name is Dr. Kira Lang on board the Earth vessel Odyssey,"_ said a female voice that came over the speakers in the cockpit, with Roslin looking out the window at the ship with her eyes wide open at the mere mention of Earth. A planet that was, as far as she and the dead former President Adar knew, was a myth. However, her hands trembled while she and the others continued to listen to the woman's voice while trying to make sense of everything, " _I am speaking on behalf of Colonel Lionel Pendergast, and he would like to relay a message that we are here on a mission of protection. He would like to ask if your vessels are Cylon or Colonial?"_

"Madam President?" asked the Captain as he looked back at the stunned Roslin, "Madam President."

Roslin shook her head, before she stuttered the word 'yes', and then looked down at the Captain while asking if they had all heard the same thing.

"We have, ma'am," replied Apollo from the Captain's right side, "is it even possible? Earth? I haven't read much on the Sacred Scrolls but wasn't it supposed to be a myth?"

"The planet where the Thirteenth Tribe left for from Kobol," explained Roslin while she looked back up at the ship, and then whispered, as if speaking to herself, "we get attacked by the Cylons, and then the same day we are found by a ship from Earth. We all thought that the human race was dead and gone, but we still survive… our cousins from the Thirteenth Tribe have come."

"Ma'am?" asked Apollo as he looked questioningly at the President, "shall I send a message?"

"Sorry, of course, please," Roslin said as she continued looking at the ship.

" _Odyssey, my name is Captain Lee Adama on board Colonial One, we are carrying the President of the Twelve Colonies of Kobol. So I can be certain when I tell you that we are not Cylon."_

" _Understood, Captain,"_ said Dr. Lang who was standing next to Colonel Pendergast, the both of them were looking out the large window in the bridge. They were supposed to have arrived an hour ago, but the ship had to make a detour to a planet with a Stargate so that they could pick up Dr. Lang after she stepped through the Stargate. It was after the ship re-entered hyperspace, and travelled towards the coordinates that the Avalon had sent the SGC nearly an hour ago, that the Odyssey received a subspace databurst from the SGC that the Avalon was undergoing some repairs in orbit of P7T-983 while injured crew members were being sent back to Earth. They were told that the Colonial survivors on board were being treated on the planet itself by Dr. Fraiser.

Colonel Pendergast and Dr. Lang were watching the ships hanging in space while Major Marks was speaking out loud to the Colonel, relaying him a message from the SGC and Homeworld that was included in the databurst; that the Odyssey was to simply protect the Galactica while she was loading ammo. The Colonel's orders were to not participate in any attack unless the ship itself was attacked by the Cylons, they were to only observe if and when the Galactica went back into battle; as per an order from the IOA. Major Marks then told the Colonel that the Avalon had sent a message from P7T-983 to the SGC before systems had been damaged due to a Cylon attack on them during SG-1's rescue.

"How was the ship damaged?" asked the Colonel before asking Dr. Lang to send the Colonials a message reminding them that they were here just as protection, and that they had orders not to further involve themselves in a war. Dr. Lang nodded her head before she nodded at one of the officers at a small console next to her, who then opened a channel. While Dr. Land was speaking to Apollo on Colonial One, the Colonel walked over to Major Marks while Major Womack was running scans on the various ships.

"The enemy used a unique FTL system to jump within the Asgard shields, sir," replied the Major as he pointed at the screen while Colonel Pendergast read the report under his breath.

"Captain Rosenberg recommends we switch to the Ancient shielding system," said Colonel Pendergast, "alright, do it."

"Sir," exclaimed Major Womack as she turned to Colonel Pendergast, "I'm running scans using the same parameters that the Avalon sent the us through subspace earlier.. the same parameters that revealed that man on board the station had nanites in his blood stream, and… well… the scanners are showing the presence of nanites on a few of those ships. And, sir, there are two people, I guess, whose bodies are swarming with nanites on the ship which is transmitting to us."

"Colonial One?" asked Dr. Lang as she looked back at Major Womack.

"Yes," replied Colonel Pendergast.

"And there is one more person on Colonial One who shows intermittent signals from nanites on sensors, sir," said Major Womack.

"This is going to be a problem," replied the Colonel as he looked out at the ships before him, "a really big problem."

TBC.

 


	10. Chapter 10

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I will be taking a break for about two months, at the most. There's some real life stuff that I need to take care off that's been weighing me down while writing these stories, and I'd like to get them out of the way ( I thought I could do those, and write these stories at the same time; but my other personal stuff has been suffering). The first being writing another draft of a research proposal for admission to a few PhD programs, and the second being learning SAP and Data Management techniques in a course at the local university. I hope you guys understand the need for this break, and I will get back to uploading the newest chapters at the end of the two months.

**General Landry's office, the SGC, 1900 hours** ;

In General Landry's office, he was reading the report on the damage done to the Avalon, a report which included the help that Vala had provided in protecting the ship from Cylon intruders, and the report that Willow had written, for the umpteenth time. It was the same report that was sent to the President, the IOA, and Homeworld security. The man closed the file folder, and then leaned back on his seat and stared at another report that he had finished reading. It was about an incident at the planet that the Colonial survivors were sent to by the Avalon, the same planet where it was still undergoing repairs while in orbit.

It was about thirty minutes ago, after the final batch of Colonial survivors were sent to the surface that the General received word of a small problem. Colonel Mitchell had called through the Stargate, and told him that one of the Colonials, a woman named Carolanne, had questions about the doctor who was responsible to looking after the Colonial delegation.

"Sir," Colonel Mitchell had said while General Landry was looking at him through the screen hanging in the ceiling right above the primary console in the control room, "Carolanne seems to think that Dr. Fraiser is one of these humanoid Cylons."

"Why would she get that idea?" asked the General with his eyes narrowed in confusion.

"Apparently her mother-in-law looked just like Dr. Fraiser, sir," said the Colonel as the General frowned, "she and the others are refusing to be seen by her, and we've already insisted that the doc's not a Cylon. Tara has already tried to convince them, and we've showed Carolanne and a few of the other Colonials scans of Dr. Fraiser taken with the Jumper's sensors… but they're not convinced."

"They're scared, Colonel," replied the General while he looked at the people behind Colonel Mitchell. HE could see a group gathered around a tent, and a woman talking to Tara. He guessed that the woman could be Carolanne, and then he watched some of the nurses approaching the group with dr. Fraiser speaking with Dr. Lam. The General then looked at Colonel Mitchell before telling him that it would be better, for now, that Dr. Fraiser return to the SGC with the rest of the injured Avalon Personnel, "Dr. Lam will remain on the planet to look over the survivors. I'm having supplies; food, and clothes sent over for the Colonials from our Zeta Site.

"Understood, sir," replied Colonel Mitchell.

"Any idea on how there could be two people who look like Dr. Fraiser existing on two different worlds?" inquired the General.

"No idea, sir," said the Colonel, "Dr. Fraiser did say that it was possible that there could be more people out there who look like her, or me, or yourself, out in the galaxy. Something about genetic drift. Dr. Lam supported that theory too, but the Colonials aren't convinced. That's the main reason why Satterfield's up on the Avalon, sir… these people just found out that these robot enemies of theirs have taken human form. And… well, they just don't trust her."

"I understand," said the General, "the report from the Avalon's been sent to the President, General O'Neill, and Mr Woolsey. Once they've read through it, we'll decide on a course of action. For the moment, the IOA ordered that we simply protect the Galactica with the Odyssey."

"Just protection, sir?" asked the Colonel with a frown on his face, "the Cylons attacked us without any provocation."

"Which I've already seen in Colonel Emerson's report," replied the General, his head nodding in agreement, "which is why the IOA wants the Odyssey to remain at least sixty light years away from the Galactica if she decides to go back into the battle. The President has also agreed with that assessment."

"Sir," said Colonel Mitchell, "these people will want to fight back. The ones that are with us are just jumping at the bits to fight back."

"I've already suggested to General O'Neill that we use one of our stealth F-302's on the Odyssey to conduct a recon mission in the orbit of Caprica," said the General, "in the meantime, Dr. Lam will remain with the nurses, and please have Dr. Fraiser return to the SGC."

"Yes, sir," replied the Colonel after he nodded his head, and then the feed vanished.

Back in the present time, two bright lights flashed on the other side of General Landry's table, the flashes of light soon dissipated to reveal General O'Neill in his dress blues and Woolsey of the IOA, both of whom were holding blue folders. With the Prometheus in the orbit of Earth, and preparing to land in one of the underground bays in Area 51, the Asgard teleportation system was used to beam up General O'Neill and Woolsey from their respective offices, and then materials them in General Landry's office. Standing up, General Landry motioned towards the briefing room, and the two newcomers then followed the man out the door. Taking their respective seats, with the General at the head of the table, he began the briefing on what just happened on the Colonial world, P7T-983.

"So this Carolynn Adama claims that Dr. Fraiser is the doppelganger of her mother-in-law?" asked Woolsey while General O'Neill nodded his head, "is there any proof of this, or.."

"Do we really need proof?" asked General O'Neill leaning forward on the table towards Woolsey, who was seated across from him, "you read the report that Satterfield sent over too, right? The thing about the machine, this humanoid Cylon, that looks like her?"

"Yes," replied Woolsey nodding his head, "and I am very aware of Captain Rosenberg's assertion that she can feel Lt. Satterfield's emotions, which supports her claim that she's human. Which brings about a good question, how was this Cylon humanoid called Sharon created? What I mean is, who created these humanoid Cylons… because whoever they are, must have known about the Lieutenant and…"

"That would imply that these people have been to Earth to specifically target the lieutenant," said General Landry, "but that is very unlikely given that the Cylon who surrendered herself on the Avalon didn't know about Earth. The probable scenario is that whoever created the humanoid Cylons must have met a human who looked like Lt. Satterfield, and created this Cylon in her image."

"But…" Woolsey wanted to say more, but he was interrupted by General O'Neill.

"Which is why you're going to '983, and then you'll be taken to the Avalon to talk to the three Cylon prisoners," General O'Neill did his best to hide his chuckle at the expression on the diplomat's face. The IOA man had never been off-world, and the General knew that just thinking about the idea of walking through the Stargate was terrifying for Woolsey, "come on, Richard… we've all tried it."

"And the Avalon's still undergoing repairs," replied General Landry as he chuckled while shaking his head, "SG-1 will be your escorts on the ship, making sure that you're not in any danger."

"While we've agreed that Richard will be sent to speak with the Cylon guests on the Avalon," said General Landry, "there is something else that I would like to talk about. I've spoken to Miss Chase, the head of the Institute of Paranormal Research, the group created to fight supernatural threats under the oversight of the NID and Home World Command, just last week."

"And…?" asked General O'Neill.

"Jack," said General Landry, with a hint of exasperation in his voice, "you got a report on this, or you should have."

"Report on what?" asked a confused Woolsey.

"I'll check my inbox," replied the General, the both of them ignoring Woolsey's question, "but go on…"

"She and Mr. Giles said that…," General Landry's voice trailed off as footsteps could be heard coming up the stairs.

"General Landry, sir," said Walter as he ran up the stairs, interrupting what it was that the man wanted to say, "sorry, sirs… we received an emergency subspace message from the Odyssey."

"Are they being attacked?" asked General Landry, worry in his voice, as he stood up.

"No sir, but they've met with a fleet of Colonial civilian ships being led by the President of the Twelve Colonies of Kobol," said Walter as he recalled the message that they had just received from the Odyssey, "Colonel Pendergast ran scans over all of the vessels, and they've found the presence of nanites."

"On which ship?" asked General Landry while General O'Neill and Woolsey looked at each other wordlessly. The same thoughts were going through their minds as they looked back at Walter and General Landry; they were looking at more possible humanoid Cylon infiltrators.

"At least ten ships, sir," said Walter, "there are three signals coming from the President's ship; but one of them is just an erratic signal."

"What does that mean?" asked Woolsey.

"Colonel Pendergast believes that whatever it is, may not be the same as the Humanoid Cylon that was beamed onto the Avalon, or any of the ones being held in the brig, sir," replied Walter before turning to look at General Landry, "the Colonel's asking for your orders, sir."

"He believes it would be better to let the Colonials know about the danger on their ship," continued Walter.

"Having civilians take care of these machines would be dangerous," said Woolsey shaking his head, "the reports we received from the Avalon stated that these humanoid Cylons were stronger than a normal human. It's quite possible that these two could kill everyone on board if they receive a message that we're onto them."

"There is at least one military presence on board, sir," said Walter, "a Captain Adama was the one who was speaking with Colonel Pendergast."

"Connect me to Colonel Pendergast," ordered General Landry before he, General O'Neill, and Woolsey followed Walter down the stairs to the Control Room. One they were at the bottom stairs, the General and the others nodded at Colonel Pendergast's face behind a screen.

**Earth Ship Odyssey, at that same time, orbit of Ragnar.**

"General Landry, sirs," said the Colonel as he nodded his head at the two Generals and Woolsey, "I take it you've been given the gist of what we've found using our scanners?"

"Yes, Colonel," said General Landry, "I need to know the current military strength on the President's ship. Colonel Pendergast then nodded his head, and signalled to Dr. Lang. She nodded her head before sending a message to Colonial one, where Roslin, Apollo, the Captain of the ship, Billy, and a stunned Baltar was listening to the translation from the linguist. Gaius Baltar was, and still is, considered the smartest man in all the Twelve Colonies, and he had the ego to match. He was the President's Chief Scientist on the Cylon threat as well. However, what the others did not know what that he was unwittingly responsible for allowing a humanoid Cylon, a Number Six.. the same Number Six that he had been sleeping with for months, to gain access into the Colonial defence mainframe. He was the one, unwittingly, responsible for the destruction of the Colonies. It was something that was weighing down on his mind as he looked at the strange ship hanging in space. Everything seemed to sound as if they were coming from a far off distance while he listened to Apollo telling Dr. Lang, after seeking permission from President Roslin, that there were two members of the Colonial military on board.

" _I do suggest against boarding this ship, or else we will send a call to the Galactica and they will launch an attack to protect this fleet,"_ said Apollo in Colonial Standard. Everyone, except for Baltar who had just come on the bridge a minute ago, knew that it was a lie. They weren't able to contact the Galactica due to the interference from the radiation within the gas giant. Baltar was about to say something, but once he made a sound… Billy leaned in and whispered at the man to keep quiet.

" _Colonel Pendergast would like to assure you that we have no intention of boarding your ships without permission, Captain Adama,"_ said Dr. Lang while Colonel Pendergast was talking to General Landry and the others at the SGC.

"Major Marks has informed us that the person with the intermittent nanites signal is on Colonial One's bridge, sirs," said the Colonel after he nodded at the Major, "The only way to get them out of their ships would be to board the vessel, and then reveal the truth about the Cylons taking human forms. But that would mean we have to reveal how we know who's human and who's not. Another option is to beam them out."

"But that would reveal another hand," said General O'Neill, "I'd like to keep that tech close to our vests."

"And if it is true that there are only two officers on board the ship, then we shouldn't tell them about the Cylons," said Woolsey, "at least not until they're able to get reinforcements. As for our men entering the ship of a foreign galactic power? That would imply we've taken sides in a war that's not really ours to begin with."

"Richard," said General O'Neill with a frown on his face.

"Our ships defended themselves," said Woolsey as he looked at the Colonel through the screen, "just as they were meant to do. According to the report, the Cylons were given a chance to disengage, which they did not. When they fired on the Avalon, it was self-defence to fire back at them. Also remember that the Avalon was on a rescue mission for SG-1. They completed their goal, and got out of there."

"We're already in this war, Richard," said General Landry, "whether we want to be or not. I know what the IOA is worried about.. an attack on Earth. And that's exactly what I was going to tell you and General O'Neill back in the briefing room. I've talked to Miss Chase at the IPR, and she's assured me that Miss Madison and her team have nearly completed a mystical planetary defence shield by accessing the magic that flows through laylines."

"I heard about that," said General O'Neill, "how far along are they?"

"They'll be testing the shield in a month," said General Landry as he looked at General O'Neill, and then at Woolsey, "right now they can get nearly eighty percent of the planet covered with the shield."

"And why doesn't the IOA know about this?" asked Woolsey.

"Don't blame us if you and the NID don't share information," said General Landry, "If the IOA is worried about the Earth being attacked, then the shield would be able to protect the planet until the enemy force has been destroyed."

"The IOA still insists that this mission be one of protection," insisted Woolsey calmly, "just ensure that the refugees aren't attacked by the Cylons. Ensure that the Galactica isn't attacked by the Cylons, while we keep an eye on them from sixty light years away if they choose to return to Caprica. If the planet is clear of enemy ships, then we can begin humanitarian assistance."

"And if they happen to attack the stealth ship we're sending?" asked Colonel Pendergast.

"It's a stealth ship, Colonel," said Woolsey, "it's not supposed to be seen."

"And what if the Galactica's attacked?" asked General O'Neill. It was something that Woolsey did not have an answer for.

"Colonel," said General Landry after he glanced back at Woolsey, and then at General Landry who nodded his head, "this is a simple mission of protection. If the Galactica chooses to return to the battle, the Odyssey is to hold station sixty light years away. I want the ship to run scans on the Galactica, and keep contact with the Stealth ship that gets sent to Caprica. I am giving you discretion to provide them with back-up based on the situational reports from the stealth ship."

"Understood, Sir," said Colonel Pendergast, "and what about the possible humanoid Cylons on the Colonial ships, sir?"

"Just escort the ships in, Colonel," said General Landry, "the Odyssey is expected to protect the Galactica, so they should be expecting you. Don't tell them about the Humanoid Cylons yet, just keep a lock on them. It is very possible that these Cylons could be, in a way, connected to the Furlings."

"The Furlings, sir?" asked the Colonel, "as in the race from the Great Alliance?"

"That's the one," said General O'Neill, "we'll explain everything later. But one of Woolsey's jobs would be to determine if these humanoid Cylons know anything about their creators. We also need to know how many of these things there are in total. We don't want to crate fear among the people in the ships, who are already fleeing a war, only to turn on each other thinking that the person next to them is a Cylon when they aren't. I have a feeling that telling them that we have advanced sensors that can detect nanites wouldn't help. These people are scared right now, and I doubt they'll listen to reason. Like General Landry said, keep a lock on the possible Cylons, and check their movements."

"The Avalon is due to complete some of her minor repairs in an hour," said General Landry, "I want SG-1 to be the first contact team that'll meet with the Colonial leadership. By then, we should have enough information and results on blood tests, and then we'll tell them about the humanoid Cylons."

"Understood, General, Sirs… Odyssey out," said Colonel Pendergast. It was then, while walking back towards his command chair, that he asked Dr. Lang to inform Colonial One that they would be escorting them to the Galactica. It would be then that Apollo's voice came through the speakers, asking if Earth was going to help them fight the Cylons.

" _This isn't our war, Captain Adama,"_ said Dr. Lang while Colonel Pendergast leaned forward and spoke, after telling the linguist to translate what he was saying, " _but if it is your intention to go back into the fight, we will watch from a distance; and interfere only if required."_

Apollo and the others looked at each other, and then back out at the Earth vessel. All they could wonder was why their cousins weren't willing to help them fight the greatest threat that the galaxy has ever known. In the meantime, the fleet of ships, flanked by the Odyssey, flew through the calm eye of the gas giant towards the Galactica that was still berthed to the Ragnar anchorage.

 


	11. Chapter 11

**Battlestar Galactica, 1930 hours.**

Commander Adama had just handed off a list of munitions and bombs that were already loaded onto the Battlestar, and were being chambered in the ship's weapon platforms. Once he had given it to the Junior Officer who walked away with it, he then turned to Colonel Tigh who was communicating with Chief Tyrol and his team who were still on the Ragnar Anchorage.

"I'd say we have another hour before we load the rest of the ammo, Galactica Actual," said the Chief from inside the station while he watched his right hand woman, Callie, order their subordinates to be careful with how they load the ordinance. They didn't want another accident like the one that had occurred thirty minutes ago thanks to a nervous lift driver. That time, a bomb fell onto the floor, activated, and then rolled towards a hatch in the middle of the cavernous room. Taking cover once the armed device was rolling away, everyone was lucky that there were only two injuries sent back to the Galactica.

"We need to get back into the fight," said Colonel Tigh into the phone before placing the receiver back into the cradle. Chief Tyrol, for his part, looked at the receiver and scowled, silently cursing the man who had given the order to sacrifice over eighty of his men in the aftermath of the previous attack on the Galactica by the Cylons. Chief Tyrol then reminded himself that Commander Adama would have done the exact same thing before walking back into the room to supervise Galactica's re-arming. Back at the CIC, Colonel Tight then looked up at the Commander who ordered for someone to bring him a map of the star system, that it was time that they planned for the fight back against the Cylons.

"Lt. Gaeta," said Commander Adama as he looked over his shoulder at the man who was now running over to him. Once he was by the Commander's side from his station, the lieutenant was asked by Commander Adama if the Raptors that were sent to the orbits of the Twelve Colonies nearly thirty minutes ago had returned with news.

"Nothing yet, sir," said the lieutenant before the Commander nodded his head and ordered the man back to his station. Commander Adama then looked around at the personnel in the CIC, and he could see their worried and weary looks as they tried to navigate their way through this nightmare. The man frowned before turning around to look down at the table in the middle of the CIC while he thought about his son. He remembered witnessing the destruction of Colonial One hours ago after the Cylons attacked the convoy that the President was attempting to create, while at the same time helping as many people as possible. But it was all for nothing. It was minutes after that attack that the Commander, his heart still heavy at the loss of his son, ordered the jump to the orbit of Ragnar.

Rubbing his forehead while putting off all thought about his personal loss to one side, the Commander shook his head before telling Colonel Tigh that he hoped at least a few Battlestars survived the initial attack.

"We don't even know how the Cylons managed an attack of this magnitude in the first place," he replied as the Commander leaned on the table with both hands pressed on the surface. And the Colonel continued to speak, telling him about the messages that Dee received about the systems on their Battlestars going offline as if someone had turned off a switch, "we could be the only Battlestar in existence."

The Commander was about to respond to his Executive Officer's observation of the situation when the alarms in the CIC went off with Lt. Gaeta saying that they were being approached by seventy ships.

"Coming in through the eye of the storm, sir!' cried Lt. Gaeta as the Commander and Colonel Tigh looked up at the DRADIS console and saw multiple blips.

"Have the CAP intercept them," ordered the Commander while he turned to Dee, "and launch the Alert Vipers."

"Cylons?" whispered the Colonel.

"Hope not, old friend," said the Commander, "arm whatever weapons we have loaded."

The Colonel then picked up the phone and ordered everyone on the ship to 'Condition One', and that everyone needed to get to their battle stations. Now it was just a waiting game as the Commander's heart raced, as did the hearts of everyone else in CIC, while the CAP led by Starbuck activated their engine boosters and then flew off to the tunnel-like feature through the clouds that represented the eye of the storm. While flying her viper, Starbuck was listening to Dee telling everyone that the Alert Fighters would be launching in two minutes.

Reaching the edge of the eye, Starbuck screamed in happiness when she, and the other Vipers, flew past Colonial One and the other Colonial vessels.

"Galactica, Starbuck," she screamed over her wireless as everyone in the CIC was listening in, "the shops are Colonial! I repeat the ships are Colonial and… oh?"

"Oh?" asked Colonel Tigh as he shrugged his shoulders at the Commander.

"Sir," said Dee as Commander Adam looked at her just as they were receiving a wireless message from Starbuck saying that there was another ship travelling alongside the Colonial vessels; one t hat didn't look like it was made by the Colonials.

"It looks kind of like the Avalon," said Starbuck as she flew around the ship. As she did, she noticed the flight pods on either side, and she could have sworn that there were black coloured planes inside each pod, "just a little bit larger."

"Copy, Starbuck," said the Commander just as Dee gasped before looking up at the him, who had heard her gasp and was looking directly at her.

"We… we've received authentication codes from Colonial One, sir," said Dee, her face still in shock at whose voice she had just heard, "it.. it was Apollo's authentication code, sir."

The expression on the Commander's face was one of shock mixed with happiness as he gently put down his glasses. In the meantime, the Colonel was looking at his best friend hoping that this wasn't a cruel joke before turning to Dee and ordering her to confirm the code.

"IT.. it's been authenticated, sir," said Dee, whose voice was trembling. The entire CIC had seen the explosion that should have destroyed Colonial One and her fleet, and to have the ship… along with her fleet and the Earth vessel was a miracle to many of the personnel. Once the Commander heard that Apollo's code was authenticated, he reached for the phone. Picking up the device, and then placing it on his ear, Commander Adama cleared his throat before nodding at Dee and ordering her to connect him to Colonial One.

"Galactica Actual to Colonial One," said the Commander as his voice went over the speakers in the CIC, "do you copy."

"Galactica Actual, Apollo, we read you." Apollo looked back at the President and asked her if she needed to talk to the Commander. She told his that she wanted to see him in person before they contacted the Odyssey. Apollo nodded his head before he made that request to the Commander, who accepted it. Apollo then asked the Captain of Colonial One to take it into the gigantic flight-pod on the side of the Galactica.

"You are clear to dock, Colonial One," said the Commander just as Dee looked up while pressing against her ear. She then told the Commander that they were getting a message from the new Earth vessel.

"Put them through," said the Commander, "and connect the call to Colonial One."

Nodding her head, Dee spoke into the wireless to the Earth ship, and then to Colonial One. She told the latter that they were being contacted by the Earth vessel, and were going to pipe the message over to the President's ship as well.

" _Galactica, my name is Dr Lang translation on behalf of the commander of the Earth ship Odyssey, Colonel William Pendergast,"_ said Dr Lang as she and the Colonel stood at the forward section of the bridge, looking out the window at the Galactica and the gathering of ships _, "I believe you have spoken to the commander of the Avalon, Colonel Paul Emmerson."_

" _We have spoken to his translator, yes,"_ replied Commander Adama while Roslin and Apollo looked at each other with surprise etched on their faces. As were Billy, and Baltar who was amazed that another space faring civilisation were able to find them out. While Colonial one was heading onto the Galactica's only operational flight-pod, Roslin and the other continued to listen in to the conversation between Commander Adama and Dr. Lang, _"we were told that another ship would be heading to this location. I assume that the Odyssey is that ship?"_

" _Yes,"_ replied Dr. Lang as Colonel Pendergast reminded her about the message they received from the SGC on the rules of engagement _, "we are here merely on a mission of protection while you are reloading your arms. If you intend to return to the fight, we are only ordered to observe."_

" _Understood,"_ said the Commander who turned to Dee when she stood up, and whispered that the President wanted to speak to him on a scrambled line. Commander Adama nodded his head before telling Dr. Lang to stand-by. He then picked up another receiver and spoke to Roslin.

Meanwhile, back on the Odyssey, the Colonel nodded his head when the linguist told him that the Commander had asked them to stand-by. The Colonel headed back to his chair and pressed a button before ordering Alpha Team to their stealth planes; two new additions to the ship that have been undergoing testing for the last three months. With three more months of testing due for the planes dubbed the F-302S, no one knew that the ships would be needed so quickly in a battlefield role.

The two specially made planes were one seaters, compared to the newer F-302's which comprised the majority of Earth space interceptors. Instead of having the Ancient shielding system on the newer F-302's, the 'S' models were designed for stealth and reconnaissance. These ships carried no mini shield emitters or generators. Instead, each ship contained a cloaking device that was based on the Puddle Jumpers, combined with designs that were found one and a half years ago in the Death Valley outpost. The result was a working cloaking generator that lasted, so far, for ten hours before the naquada core powering it was depleted. Combined with a stable hyperdrive that was powered by a smaller version of the one that powered the larger ships, the 'S' models were built to escape detection before the cloaking generators fizzled out. Combined with numerous high-definition cameras that were capable of taking high resolution pictures and recording video from near orbit, these recon vessels that were still in the test stage, were key in finding out the strength of any enemy forces. And with the danger of the Lucien Alliance, these ships were becoming more important.

As the two test pilots ran out of their quarters, and towards the locker room to suit up, the Colonel walked back to the side of Dr. Lang while they watched Colonial vanish into the massive flight-pod of the Galactica. It would be a few minutes later that they received a message from the Galactica with Commander Adama asking if it was possible for a delegation to meet with President Roslin and her team on the Galactica.

" _Commander Adama,"_ said Dr. Lang after conferring with the Colonel, _"our orders are explicitly not to involve ourselves in your war. It is true that the Avalon may have interfered, but that was because it was on a rescue mission to save our people. The ship was heavily damaged from reports we received, but they have rescued our people, as well as around thirty Colonial citizens from Caprica. Who are receiving medical treatment on another world."_

That revelation was something that surprised the Commander, Colonel Tigh, the President, and her delegation which was made up of Elosha, her spiritual advisor who had only just heard about the contact made with the Earth ship, Baltar, Billy, and two others while Sharon and Apollo would be taking the Raptor back to the Galactica through the hanger bay. Roslin was still waiting for he ship to dock when the voice of Dr. Lang said that the survivor were doing well, and that coordinates would be provided for the civilians ships if they so choose to head to that planet while the Galactica went back to the fight.

Back on the Odyssey, the Colonel listened to Dr. Lang translating a message from both Commander Adama and Roslin that the both of them needed to discuss the current situation before they came to any agreement on going back to the fight. Dr. Lang acknowledged before turning to look at Colonel Pendergast who told her that Commander Adama seemed to be not happy about the arrangement, that he wanted to get back into the fight.

"But this gives us a chance to send our recon birds to Caprica, and take a quick look around," said the Colonel just before he received notification that the pilots were heading towards their planes. The Colonel walked back to his chair and pressed the intercom; he then gave them orders to scan for any more of the Cylon ships, and then they were to scour the planet's surface from low orbit using their camera's. He then told them that they were to return to Ragnar before the naquada cells powering the cloaking device was used up.

Back in the vacuum of space a few minutes later, Starbuck ordered the CAP and the majority of the Alert Fighters back to the fleet that had just joined the Galactica, while she and two of the Alert Fighters were flying around the Earth ship. Starbuck noticed the turrets on board the vessel, and she was giving a running commentary of what she was seeing while Gaeta, since the Commander and the Executive Officer were already heading to the airlock to welcome Roslin to the ship. Starbuck was telling them that some of the weapons seemed to be tracking them, but they weren't firing on them.

It was them that Gaeta told Starbuck that the power levels on the Earth vessel were significantly more than the smaller Avalon. He then asked if Starbuck could describe their weapons.

"I'm seeing single turret weapons," said Starbuck as she and the two Viper performed a fly-by while keeping at safe distance, "and double turret weapons on all sides of the ship. There are about… stand-by. Galactica Actual, we have two smaller planes heading out of the Odyssey's flight-pods."

Starbuck watched as a ship flew out from each flight pod before banking to the left and flying past the Odyssey. Starbuck went after them while telling the Galactica that they were heading out towards the eye of the storm. While she was gaining on them, she heard Gaeta telling her over her wireless that Dee was contacting the Odyssey for an explanation. Nodding her head, Starbuck continued to follow the two ships into the eye and smiled a little smile. She accelerated her Viper until she was flying alongside them, which was when she turned her head to get a good look at the vessel. She furrowed her eye-brows upon noticing that it had no weapons, a least no visible weapons.

"It definitely has no missiles for combat, Actual," said Starbuck as she looked at one of the pilots looking back at her, and waving his hand. Starbuck responded with a wave as well before Gaeta ordered her to pull back, that the Earthers were launching a recon mission to the orbit of Caprica. Starbuck then nodded her head before acknowledging that order. She stopped, and then turned her vessel end over end before heading back to the anchorage. In the meantime, the two recon ships flew through the eye of the storm, and then into open space before opening two hyperspace windows. They darted into the windows for a twenty-minute journey to Caprica.

TBC.

 


	12. Chapter 12

**Planet designated P7T-983, 1745 hours.**

With the child who had been constantly by her side since the attack on Caprica by the Cylons, Carolanne Adama tried to push away the thoughts of getting a drink out of her mind. One part of her was demanding a drink, a drop of Ambrosia, but the feeling of the young child in her arms gave her pause. The warmth of the young child forced another part of her to protect the child while thinking about her surviving son, Lee.

The thought that Lee died in the attack gave her an impetus to either demand a drink, or stay sober and protect the child in her arms. Carolanne knew how she'd get while drunk, both of her sons had seen her 'that way' before, when their father was away.

And she didn't want the child in her arms to see her like that. She then made a conscious decision to stop thinking about Ambrosia, at least for now

Sighing, she looked down at the frightened child who was on her lap. They were on a cot under a tent that was put up by these people… these people who had just identified themselves as being from the planet Earth.

It was something that caused an uproar among the thirty survivors; although the children didn't exactly understand the reason for the excitement. They were told about Earth after she had been approached by the frighteningly identical twin of her mother-in-law; except this Dr. Janet Fraiser was wearing a white lab coat, and ordering nurses around. She rushed to Carolanne since she was one of the first in line in the group who were let off the Jumper, before it went back to the Avalon to bring down more of the Colonials.

Carolanne still remembered the scream that escaped her lips when she felt Dr. Fraiser's touch. The only thing going through her mind was that the Cylons were able to take human form and that her mother-in-law had died a few years ago.

'This.. this thing is a Cylon!' Carolanne thought to herself before screaming, "Cylon!"

Everything after that was a blur for Carolanne, she remembered Colonel Mitchell telling her that Dr. Fraiser was human, that she wasn't born on the Colonies; that she was born in his world. But she and the Colonials wouldn't accept it, even when the doctor herself said that it was entirely possible that someone like her could live somewhere in the galaxy. But Carolanne and the Colonials didn't care... they didn't dare listen. The last she had seen of Dr. Fraiser was when she was sent through a strange ring with a blue puddle in the middle followed by nurses and gurneys carrying away the injured crew from the Avalon. Before she left through the blue puddle of water, Carolanne had seen Dr. Fraiser sit down with the younger redhead who, those trapped in the electronics store in Caprica City, had been calling a freak due to the electrical charges that were fired out of her hands.

It was Carolanne who glared at the ones making the 'freak' comments before saying that these people saved their lives; that if they hadn't, they would most likely have been dead on Caprica. The whispering Colonials looked away nervously before Carolanne, and a few others, looked at Dr. Fraiser slather some gel on the younger redhead's arms. She herself, had seen the young woman's hands burnt, but now all the injuries were healed. Even so, Carolanne watched the redhead yelp out loud before winching as Dr. Fraiser rubbed the gel onto her arms.

Once the redhead nodded her head after being asked a question that was too far away for Carolanne to hear, did Dr. Fraiser leave through the blue puddle.

It was something that Carolanne hadn't seen before… in fact, it was something that her fellow Colonials hadn't seen before either. While Dr. Lam and her team were checking their medical condition, Carolanne and the other Colonials watched the blue puddle disappear with a 'whoosh' sound. At the bottom of the pedestal that held up the ring, Carolanne saw Colonel Mitchell putting a ball down on the grass, before walking over to the redhead seated on a cot in another tent.

Carolanne then turned to Dr. Lam, and asked her about the ring.

She watched Dr. Lam look at her, and then over her shoulder and yelled something in that strange language. Carolanne then noticed a young man running towards them asking her in an accented, and an older version, of Colonial Standard if there was anything she needed to ask the doctor.

_"Yes,"_ said Carolanne pointing at the ring, _"what is that?"_

_"That,"_ said the young man nodding towards the Stargate, _"is, in your language the literal translation would be 'Gate to the Stars'."_

_"I don't understand,"_ said a man next to Carolanne who was listening in _, "who are you people?"_

"Listen up," said Colonel Mitchell as he approached the tent with the Colonials with check out while translators were translating what he was telling them, "there's something you guys need to know."

And that was when the Colonel told the stunned Colonial's that they were from Earth.

Back in the present time, Carolanne barely knew know long it had been since that time. All she knew was that she was trying her very best to not think about having a drink while she took in everything they had learned. Carolanne was stroking the side of the little boy's head, the same little boy who had lost his parents the day of the nuclear blast. Carolanne's heart broke when she heard the child asking her if he would see his parents again.

"One day," she whispered just as the Stargate turned on again. She saw the unstable vortex rush outwards, and then fall into the blue puddle of 'water'. She stood up, as did a few of the other Colonials when the puddle rippled, and more nurses and personnel walked through, bringing with them trolleys piled with metallic boxes. Carolanne kept her eyes on the bald man who was met by Colonel Mitchell, the redhead, and a blonde.. the same blonde that had protected them against the nuclear fire back on Caprica with a shield.

It was something Carolanne and the other Colonials were still getting their heads around.

While the Colonials were wondering what was going on, Woolsey was talking to Colonel Mitchell, Willow, and Tara who were heading to the Puddle Jumper. He glanced at the tent with the Colonial survivors and then asked Colonel Mitchell how they took the news that he and the others were from Earth.

"Surprised," said Colonel Mitchell.

"It is the last thing they expected," said Tara, "it's gotten them a bit more anxious, confused… some are excited, others are angry."

"You can tell all that, can't you?" asked Woolsey as Tara nodded her head before telling him that the aura coming off the Colonials were like Christmas lights. All of them were going through a whole gamut of emotions which would take time to settle down.

"We have brought rations, clothes, and bedding from the SGC," said Woolsey nodding at the metallic cases that were being walked down the stairs and placed on a trolley. Wooley then followed Willow, and Tara up the ramp while the Colonel stayed on the grass outside, "any idea on the damage to their planets?"

"Bad," said Colonel Mitchell, "we saw nukes going off in the distance and by the time we were back on board the Avalon, the planet was already turning this greyish colour."

"Sir," said Willow while she stayed with Woolsey at the ramp, and Tara sat at the console, which activated thanks to the Ancient gene that was placed into her system using the method that Dr. Carson Beckett had developed on Atlantis. A gene therapy that gave a little over half of the people in the SGC and Atlantis the Ancient gene, with Tara being one of them, as was Satterfield and Grogan. Buffy and Willow already had the gene naturally; however, Colonel Mitchell, Colonel Carter, and Daniel failed to have the gene therapy work for them. Willow told the Colonel and Woolsey that it was possible they were looking at a situation where the radioactivity on the Colonial worlds would be a danger to life since food and water would be tainted. "We could be looking at a possibility of relocating millions of people."

"Let's talk to these Cylons, and then we make our way to the Odyssey's location," said Woolsey nodding his head as he tried to get an idea of the number of people killed.

"Could be in the billions, sir," said Willow as Colonel Mitchell pressed the button that raised the rear ramp. Woolsey looked at the redhead next to him who told him that he was thinking out loud before turning to the Colonel who told the both of them that he'll be staying on the surface of the planet, and coordinating with the two SG teams on security. Once the ramp was closed, Willow asked Woolsey to take a seat in the rear while she went up to sit next to Tara who had brought up the holographic HUD interface.

"Captain," said Woolsey who was standing in-between the two seats, "I heard what happened to your arms. I thought you were fully healed?"

"I am," said Willow as she looked at her gel covered arms, "but while I was supposed to help with my telekinesis to move around the magazines, the pain in my arms were too much. So I asked Colonel Emerson if I could get checked out on the surface. He said 'yes', and now I have this cooling burn gel on my arms."

"It's mostly psychological," said Tara as she pulled on the controls and the Jumper rose into the air. She then switched the HUD to one that showed a flight plan, and she pointed the ship towards the Avalon. Flying into the sky, Tara told Woolsey that the gel helped Willow's mind think that the pain had gone away.

"Even though, you know…" said Willow as she raised her arms at Woolsey, "all healed."

The bald man nodded his head before he looked out past the holographic HUD, and to the Avalon that was hanging in space. Tara told the man that the ship was in low orbit, just outside the gravity well of the planet so that she could use the planet's magic. She told Woolsey that she would 'magically download' the same translator that SG-1 had used on Caprica so that he could talk to the Cylon guests.

"I was told that while Colonel Mitchell would be overseeing security until we left for the Galactica," said Woolsey, a bit of worry in his voice, "I would have the rest of SG-1 with me."

"You do," said Willow with a sweet smile on her face, "Carl and Lauren will be with you and Tara, but Buffy is helping with the magazines, and once those are done… I'll be helping Major Neil and his engineering teams. If you're worried about your safety, you have nothing to worry about… Carl and Lauren will be armed with Zat's. As for Tara, well, there's a reason the Avalon's in low orbit, and it's not just so she could magically download a language pack into your head."

"You'll be safe, Mr. Woolsey," said Tara looking over her shoulder before she looked out the window as she took the Jumper into the open hanger bay. The ship then landed, and the rear ramp opened to an armed Grogan and Satterfield nodding at Woolsey who was walking towards the exit. Tara and Willow then got up off their seats and followed Woolsey out, the witch placing her hand on the small of Willow's back while mentally telling her that everything was going to be alright.

_Tara: "You're not in any more pain, right?"_

_Willow: "My arms have this sticky feeling 'cause of the gel, but no pain. It's a relief.'_

_Tara: "No more of that electrical stuff, clear?"_

_Willow: "Yes, honey."_

Tara rubbed the back of Willow's neck as they walked down the ramp. It was then that the two groups parted ways, with the red head running straight for the weapons magazines which were supposed to be taken to the turrets that were still operational. In the meantime, Tara placed the same magical translator into Woolsey and Grogan's minds.. telling them that it would last for twenty-four hours.

"But once we leave orbit, the magic will fade," noted Tara as the headed towards another entrance into the ship. Woolsey glanced at the heavy raider that Natalie had come in, and then at the Tel'tak before asking about Vala. It was Grogan who told Woolsey that Vala was helping Buffy with transferring the magazines to the other turrets while they walked through the hallways. Satterfield told the man about the Cylons, and asked him if he knew about Willow's knowledge of what happened on Earth when the early human were kidnapped and taken to Kobol; and about the Organic Drones.

"Yes," Woolsey replied, "we've read the report. She said she knows the coordinates that the Drones were sent to in lieu of Earth."

"Would you be telling these people, sir?" asked Satterfield.

"I would like to know what they know of their past," said Woolsey, "of course Captain Rosenberg being Athena, and the one who sent their possible ancestors to the other planet, would be hidden from them."

The three members of SG-1 nodded their heads as they came up to a hatch that was being guarded by two S.F's. The bald Woolsey then turned to Satterfield and asked her if Natalie and Leoben had seen her yet.

"Not yet, sir," came the reply. Grogan and Satterfield looked down at their weapons, and Tara formed a ball of mystical energy on the palm of her hand before dissipating it. The three of them nodded at Woolsey, silently telling him that they were ready.

"Open the hatch," said Woolsey nodding at the S.F's.

As the door opened, the three figures in the room stood up off their beds and looked on wide-eyed at Satterfield as she walked in.

"My name is Lauren Satterfield," said the female Air Force officer as the stunned Natalie, Leoben, and the knowing Sharon got up. Satterfield then turned to the smug Sharon, and told her, while glancing at the others, that she wasn't a sleeper agent, "my body contains no nanites; I'm completely human."

"It's not possible," said Natalie as she eyed Lauren, as did Leoben.

And then Tara, Grogan, and Woolsey walked in; with Grogan closing the door behind them.

"Some of you know Tara," said Satterfield in Ancient Greek as she introduced the others, "this is Carl Grogan, and this is Mr. Richard Woolsey of the International Oversight Advisory. He has a few questions for you."

"Shall we begin?" said Woolsey.

**Orbit of Caprica, 1800 hours.**

Margaret 'Racetrack' Edmondson, and Hamish 'Skulls' McCall were in their raptor as they weaved through the debris of the previous battle the Cylons were in against the Avalon, while keeping an eye on the twelve Baseships that orbited the planet. As Racetrack swung the Raptor to port to hide behind a large chunk of floating debris, she couldn't help but remain shocked by what she was seeing around them.

And it wasn't just the melted edges of the debris chunks that were confounding to both Racetrack and Skull.

She still remembered her reaction when her Raptor, one of twelve that were sent to the Colonies for a reconnaissance mission, jumped right outside Caprica's orbit. She remembered how wide her eyes must have looked when she saw the floating debris of Baseships floating freely in space. Racetrack remembered calling Skulls, who was looking surprised at his DRADIS console, who then looked over at Racetrack who was looking at him over her shoulder. She then pointed out the cockpit, at the massive debris field, while Skulls got off his seat and rushed to the cockpit. He looked out with his mouth hanging open, and his eyes as wide as saucers.

"Yea," mumbled Racetrack to herself as she looked back out at the debris field, "so that's how I look."

"Are we taking pictures of this?" asked Skulls who was scanning the surrounding area with his eyes as the Raptor slipped into the debris field.

"Gun cameras are active," replied Racetrack before she leaned forward and pressed a button which activated the gun cameras on her Raptor. She then sat back and looked out at the debris field again before asking, "you think these people claiming to be from Earth, did this?"

"If they did?" said Skulls as Racetrack flew the ship into the debris field, and immediately stopped and travelled to her starboard side behind a debris chunk the side of a three-story building. There was a Baseship that had jumped into Caprica's orbit, and her duty was not to engage any Cylons. Once the ship was hidden, Racetrack looked at the chunk and said, "they're my new best friends."

Back in the present, the two of them had already spent over thirty minutes and watched eleven more Baseships jump into Orbit, all the while hiding behind one chunk of debris to another. At times, they would pretend to be the debris by lowering power levels and drifting, this was so that they could take pictures of the Baseships. Eventually, hundreds of pictures were being taken of the level of destruction all around them, and of the Baseships which were already flying their own version of a Combat Air Patrol while heavy raiders were being sent down to the planet. It wasn't long before Racetrack, now alone at the cockpit, saw a glimmer out of one corner of her eyes. She then turned her head and looked on as two small tears opened in space, and out came two black planes.

"DRADIS Contact and… oh? That's weird… must have been a sensor ghost!" said Skulls as he looked confused at the screen in front of him, "Racetrack, I thought just saw two unknown ships, and.."

"Skulls," said Racetrack as she looked back at him, "two.. two ships came through and… and vanished."

"What do you mean vanished?" asked Skulls as he got up and rushed to the cockpit. Standing next to Racetrack, he looked out and around outside the glass of the cockpit into space. He could see the debris, the stars, and the Baseships, but there were nothing else moving.

"I saw two ships," Racetrack insisted as she looked up at Skulls, "I saw two black planes slightly larger than a viper fly out of tears in space, and then they simply vanished."

"We've been through a lot, Racetrack," Skulls was afraid that maybe his partner was losing her mind, that the stress of what just happened to their homeworlds was getting to her, so he wanted to simply offer her some comfort, "but what you're saying is like something out of science fiction. Racetrack... Maggie… we're all stressed by…"

"I'm telling you I saw two planes disappear," said Racetrack before she huffed in her helmet, and looked away from her ECO, and friend, "we've ten more minutes. And then we need to head back to the Galactica."

Skulls frowned at Racetrack, who was looking straight ahead out of the cockpit. He then patted her shoulder before turning around and walking back to the ECO console at the rear of the ship. As she looked out the cockpit, the only thing that was going through Racetrack's mind was that she wasn't crazy; that she knew what she saw.. and it was two planes becoming invisible.

While Racetrack and Skulls were taking pictures of the Baseships and debris, Lieutenants Edwards and Collins were flying their F-302S' towards one of the Baseships while remaining cloaked. They were communicating with each other via a secure subspace channel while taking high-resolution pictures of the enormous ship. However, the Raptor hiding among the debris field hadn't escaped their notice either; it was Lt. Edwards who mentioned, as they jumped out of hyperspace, that his scanners detected the Raptor. It was Lt. Collins who chuckled before the dark skinned pilot, once the two fighters had cloaked, flew close by and took a picture of the Raptor before leaving to take scans, pictures, and videos of the Baseships.

"Look at all those fighters," said Edwards as he looked up through his canopy at the 'Bat-like' planes that were simply hanging from bays on the arms of the Baseship. While more were flying around the ships.

"Must be what… high hundreds? Definitely under a thousand, seven hundred, maybe?" asked Collins who was taking pictures of the ship's axis, and then he rolled the F-302S and took pictures of the barbs jutting out along the edges of the arms. He and Edwards flew closer to those barbs and found that they were, in fact, launch tubes for missiles. Collins looked around the surface of the arms before getting on his subspace radio again, "hey, is it just me or are there really no weapon turrets on this thing?"

"Haven't found any yet." Lt. Edwards responded, "but it looks as if the fighters are enough to protect this whole thing. And if it could shoot nukes… well, then it's pretty well armed."

"I guess we drew the long straw," said Collins looking out at the ship, and then at his scanners, "we have shields, energy weapons, naquada enhanced nukes… this thing doesn't even have a shield generator that I can read."

"No, it does not, but let's not get too carried away," said Edwards as he looked at his scanners, and then out of his canopy as two more Baseships entered the fray, taking the total surrounding the planet to thirteen. The two officers, who were flying next to one another, then looked at each other before signalling towards the planet below. It was time to start their mission.

TBC.

 


	13. Chapter 13

**The Odyssey, 1900 hours.**

Natalie and Leoben finally understood what Sharon had told them about the supposed female sleeper Number Eight who was embedded on the Odyssey. There was just one problem, the Number Eight who was standing to the left of the bald man, introduced as Mr. Richard Woolsey, was not a Cylon. Natalie would have felt it deep in herself if the woman was a Cylon, but she couldn't sense anything. She glanced over at Leoben who had the same expression as she did, or at least she believed he had the same expression. Natalie then turned to Sharon looking back at her expectantly to confirm that this mystery Eight, this Lauren Satterfield, was really one of them.

That she wasn't a human being.

"She's not a Cylon," whispered Natalie before she glanced over at Satterfield who told the three of them that once their questioning was over, Natalie and Sharon would be accompanying her and Tara to the infirmary where she'd prove that there were no nanites in her system.

"And the fact that I don't have a chip at the base of my neck," said Satterfield as Natalie and the two other Cylons brought their hands to the back of their skulls without thinking. They looked questioningly at Satterfield who added that Leoben was scanned by the ship's internal sensors when he was beamed aboard. And a detailed scan was run after he was stunned to the floor hours ago.

"Wait.. wait.. wait," insisted Sharon as she waved her hands about before pointing at Satterfield, "you're telling me that you are human?"

"Yep," replied Satterfield as Sharon narrowed her eyes.

"That's not possible," insisted an outraged Sharon, "I…"

"I saw multiple copies of you," hissed Satterfield in anger as she took two steps towards Sharon, with Tara and Grogan almost immediately holding onto her and pulling her back. But despite their intervention, Satterfield continued to glare at Sharon before repeating what she had told the humanoid Cylon before, "you murdered using my face… my face!"

"Lieutenant," whispered Woolsey as Natalie held onto Sharon's shoulder and walked around her. She then told Sharon to keep quiet, and then she stared at the rage in Satterfield's eyes before glancing back at Sharon.

"Stay quiet," repeated the Number Six model, "I want to know what's going on here as much as you, Sharon."

"As would we," replied Woolsey while Tara and Grogan took Satterfield to one side. They were asking her if she would be able to regain her composure, or if she wanted to take a break. Satterfield shook her head, and the three members of SG-1 stood around Woolsey who was motioning towards the bottom bunks of the beds behind the Cylons. He asked them to take a seat, and listen to what he had to say, "and then we have questions of our own. Is that clear?"

"Yes," replied Natalie as she sat on the bed next to Leoben, while Sharon sat on Natalie's right side; occasionally glancing at Satterfield. And then at Woolsey.

"Before we begin," said Natalie, "are you the Thirteenth Tribe of man? Are you really from Earth?"

Earth. It was a surprise to hear that name when Natalie mentioned it to them earlier when they arrived over the planet they were currently orbiting. She told them how the Earth ship destroyed their Baseships, "and that was only one ship". Leoben and Sharon were stunned to hear about the massacre in orbit of Caprica. They were about to say that it was the fault of the Earthers, but before they could… Natalie informed them that the Earther had warned them not to attack, that they were on a humanitarian mission. However, Cavil still ordered an attack and then result was the decimation of a fleet of Baseships at the hand of one small vessel. It was that thought that permeated their minds as the Cylon's listened with bated breath to hear Woolsey's answer; because if this wasn't the Thirteenth Tribe, then that meant that there was another group of humans living in the Galaxy… bringing into question the very nature of the Colonials Sacred Scrolls, as well as the Cylons belief that there were only Thirteen Tribes of man.

"We are from Earth, but I can honest to goodness say that we are not your Thirteenth tribe," said Woolsey who was standing with his arms by his sides, "to be honest with you; none of us has heard about Kobol until only recently. There are a lot of things that need to be explained, but we need some answers before we continue. Why did you attack the Colonies?"

Natalie, Leoben, and Sharon looked at each other, they knew that the answer he gave was a possible lie… but from the tone of his voice and body language, they three Cylons suspected that there was at least some grain of truth into what he was saying. Natalie then turned to face Woolsey and asked him if there was any proof that they were from another species of man.

"The location of Earth is a classified, and known only to our allies," said Woolsey as Natalie and the other Cylons frowned, "and believe when I say that your people have done yourselves no favours after what occurred on the Twelve Colonies."

"You don't know," replied Sharon, "we had a reason.. a very good reason to do what we did."

"Which is?" asked Woolsey as the three Cylons looked at each other, and then back at the bald IOA representative. Natalie then leaned forward and told him about the First Cylon war forty years ago. Tara, Satterfield, and Grogan listened as Natalie went on to talk about the massive levels of destruction that the war caused on both sides before the armistice was signed. She continued talking, while Woolsey and the others listened, about the agreement with the Colonials to set up the Armistice Station so that the two people could hold diplomatic talks before Leoben took over and told them that the humanoid models were created to infiltrate the Colonies. Before the humans could say anything, Leoben continued by saying that all Cylons knew that humans couldn't be trusted… the reason for no Cylons having met the human representative in the armistice station. He continued on to say that all the humans knew was hate, and they hated Cylons.

"We knew that they would be gearing up for another war," said Leoben. Sharon then told the group that the Colonials weren't angels either. Sharon talked about how the Colonials had set up listening posts, and even skirted the armistice line in their vipers and Battlestars.

"One of the Battlestars sent a drone over the line," said Leoben, "that was an act of war, and we had every right to…"

"You infiltrated their society first," said Grogan while Leoben nodded his head.

"They enslaved our ancestors, and refused to recognise their sentience," said Sharon as she glared at the humans in front of them, "the Centurions and us are the children of humanity, and this is how they treated their creations. Their children. We had every right to fight back."

"While I am truly sorry that your ancestors were enslaved, but the fact of the matter is that your people signed an armistice that seems to have held for forty years," said Woolsey as Sharon shook her head in disbelief, "from what I understand, and I admit that we haven't spoken to the Colonials yet, but your people had every chance to speak to the Colonials on this armistice Station. A diplomatic route could have followed that one intrusion you spoke of, but as you have admitted…. No one was sent for any talks. And we cannot forget that your people were the ones who infiltrated their society first."

"It was to ensure that they weren't going to attack us again," said an outraged Sharon as she stood up and waved her hands, "yes, we spied on them.. we learned how the Colonial society worked and…"

"Sharon," said Natalie.

"No!" yelled Sharon as she looked at the Number Six, and then at Woolsey, "who are you to judge us? They would have found a reason to come after us…. They hate us, humanity hates us, and…"

"And that one intrusion into your space gave you the right to annihilate billions of men, women, and children?" asked Satterfield as she glared at her copy, "did it!?"

"And nearly killing us in the process," said Grogan rubbing the back of his head.

"We did what we believed was right," Natalie commented as she leaned forward, "the Colonials had betrayed my people, betrayed their children… and we knew in our hearts that they would do it again. We believed that the Colonials would have attacked us. I know that you have my word for this… our word for this. Just as we know that the Colonials will tell you that they were never going to attack. All I can tell you right now is that we believed that the Colonials were the only humans in the galaxy, that the Thirteenth tribe was simply a myth, but here you and your people are; travelling the stars."

Woolsey listened as Natalie told him that as far as she was concerned, the Cylons did not have a quarrel with Earth.

"That is if you are really Earth," said Sharon while Satterfield huffed.

"As I was saying," said Natalie, "Cavil wants the destruction of humanity, it doesn't matter if they are from the Colonies or not."

"Are you saying that not everyone follows this Cavil person?" asked Woolsey, "the machines we have encountered followed a…"

"You met other machines?" asked Leoben as Natalie shut her lips tight and set her jaw, "Cylons?"

"No," said Tara gently. She couldn't read their aura's since the three seated Cylons were machines, but she could still tell that they felt slightly uneasy, as if humans meeting these machines meant that they killed them without any cause… as if humans were barbaric. Tara knew that they need to tread carefully, to explain to the Cylons that the machines they fought were different from the Cylons. So Tara stepped forward and asked Woolsey if she could continue.

And Woolsey nodded his head.

"The machines we fought, and destroyed were a race called Replicators," said Tara to the stunned Cylons, "their main goal was to eat and replicate, eventually taking over the galaxy. They were made up of nanite blocks that formed into the shape of different bugs; both small and large. And they could eat anything, and they went after the most advanced civilisations first. Anyway, they eventually took on human form and became near indestructible. There were four human form replicators, which were whittled down to three after they turned on one of their own. Then those three tried to destroy a weapon that would have stopped them. They didn't succeed, but we had to lock them in one of our off-world bases before blowing it up in a nuclear explosion."

"So you're just as human as the Colonials," said Sharon.

"The Replicators would have destroyed you too," said Woolsey, "or taken over your A.I, and made you do their bidding. And that is what you have, am I right, a highly advanced form of A.I?"

"Yes," said Leoben.

"Do you know who created you?" asked Woolsey, to which Natalie told the man that they had no idea who it was that created the Cylons, at least the humanoid version.

"Even Cavil doesn't know," said Leoben, "that information has been stripped from our minds. Our creators probably did it to us."

Natalie noticed the looked that the humans were giving each other before they proceeded with even more questions, from Cylon society to their military capabilities. There were some things that Natalie didn't tell them, as was the case with Leoben and Sharon; the humans weren't told about the original tests done on humans during the war so that the Cylons could evolve, nor were they told about the hybrids on their Baseships, nor where they told about the Hub or the Colony. There were several points of interests that the humans were told about, including the fact that there were twelve models of humanoid Cylons. But it was the reaction to Leoben telling the humans that information on their creators could have been stripped out of their minds by the creators themselves that piqued Natalie's curiosity.

She knew that the humans were hiding something, just as she suspected they knew she and the other Cylons were hiding something as well. It was something that Natalie thought best to bring up in private when everyone had calmed down.

"What happens now?" asked Leoben after nearly an hour of being questioned.

"Miss Faust," said Woolsey as he turned to Natalie, "you said that not every one of the humanoid Cylons believes that we should have been attacked, is that true?"

"If my brothers and sisters knew the truth?" said Natalie, "then yes, it is possible."

"But you would be also looking at our brothers and sisters fighting each other," said Sharon as Tara rushed to the door and opened it. She and Willow spoke in hushed tones before closing the door behind her. Tara then rushed to Woolsey, who nodded his head as she whispered in his ear while Natalie continued to speak, "you would be looking at a civil war.. a war that would weaken us from the inside, something that I guess every human is really good at."

"Miss Faust," said Woolsey, "there are some things that the Cylons need to know, as do the Colonials. But that can wait, for right now.. the three of you will be guests on this ship. I will have to talk to the IOA, the President, and Homeworld security on the possibility of giving you any additional information. In the meantime, I have just been notified that the Avalon is due to return to the location of the Odyssey and the Galactica."

"The Galactica?" asked the three Cylons. Natalie frowned before asking if they were being handed to the Colonials.

"No," replied Woolsey, "the truth is that we cannot leave you on the planet below, and we cannot return you to the Colonials since they didn't have you in their custody in the first place. The truth is that we don't know what to do with you yet, so for now… you three will remain guests on board this ship. And while here, you three will be protected under Homeworld."

"So prisoners then?" asked Sharon.

"Like Mr. Woolsey said," replied Satterfield, "you're guests. You'd be prisoners if we actually put you in chains and locked you in this room. For now, you're just locked in this room… give me a reason to put you in chains."

Sharon looked at the anger in Satterfield's eyes before looking away at the floor of the room.

"This is better than how we'll be treated by the Colonials," said Natalie nodding her head at Woolsey before standing up, "I will tell you that I have no regrets over what we did to the Colonials. I believe that was the right thing to do, but I have no quarrel with your people. Thirteenth tribe or not, in my opinion… you are not the enemy. And I don't want to see more Earthers or my brothers and sisters, die. Whatever information you give me, I'll relay that message to all Cylons."

"And if they start killing each other?" asked Leoben looking up at Natalie, "if the ones who believe you start fighting to be free from the others?"

"Then we've proved that the human and Cylons are the same," muttered Natalie sadly while staring at Leoben, who looked away. Natalie then turned to Woolsey and told him that she'll try to convince at least her models to split, but added that others of her line.. and those who wish to split from the core Cylon group would need a place to live, "we'll be traitors, and there will be recriminations down the road… if not right then and there."

"We may have information that you can send your people," said Woolsey.

"There are a lot of things that you don't know," added Tara giving a small smile at the three Cylons.

"But some of the information you have given us will be shared with the Colonials," said Woolsey, "particularly on the twelve models of Cylons."

Leoben nodded his head before adding that the radiation in the Ragnar atmosphere was deadly for Cylon physiology after prolonged exposure. Natalie and Sharon nodded their heads when the older man said that they would be in danger of radiation poisoning, the main reason why the anchorage was located in such a location.

"The ship's hull is made of a special alloy that keeps the crew safe from radiation," said Grogan, "you'll be safe."

Natalie nodded her head before as Woolsey and the other were about to leave. Woolsey told the three of them that he'll make sure they get something to eat since it was going to be some time before they reached Ragnar again. Nodding their heads the Cylons watched at the door closed before Natalie walked across to her bunk and sat down, her hands covering her mouth; deep in thought.

"Natalie?" said Sharon while the woman wiped her face with her hand, "are you really going to talk to Cavil? To the others?"

"We don't know what information they have? Even if they did, we don't know if it's even important," Leoben leaned forward.

"I have to believe that these people, whether they are from the Thirteenth Tribe, or not, will not attack the others without provocation," said Natalie as she leaned forward and looked into Leoben eyes, "like I told them.. like I told Cavil, Sharon, D'Anna, and the others, these people haven't attacked us without provocation. They aren't the ones who created us, they don't deserve our anger.. or our hate."

"But… but those machines they destroyed," Sharon asked, her voice hiding her outrage at Natalie's lack of sorrow for the destruction of an entire mechanical race, "Natalie, they destroyed…."

"An invading force," muttered Natalie, "you heard what they said, those machines would have eaten everything. Invaded the galaxy."

"And you're taking them at their word," added Sharon with a look of consternation at Natalie.

"I don't think they lied," said Natalie gently.

Before the Cylons could say anything, they noticed the ship moving away from the planet before it entered the blue and white coloured hyperspace tunnel. Leoben then turned to Natalie and Sharon just as the door opened again, and Satterfield along with tree S.F's and Tara stood in the hallway.

" _Come on,"_ motioned Satterfield in Colonial Standard since the magic translator had been dispelled given that the Avalon was out of range of the planet's magic _, "I said that I'll prove to you that I'm not a Cylon. Lets go."_

" _Before we go,"_ said Natalie, _"those machines you destroyed, was there really no other way to… I mean, stop them?"_

Satterfield and Tara looked at each other, the former nodding her head before Tara turned and told the Cylons that the Replicators were only made t o eat, replicate, and conquer. That was their goal. She told them that the Replicators couldn't evolve beyond their programming… that even the human form replicators that attacked their base was focused on conquering.

" _But your A.I's can evolve,"_ said Tara gently, _"if it didn't, then you wouldn't have surrendered to us, Natalie. Am I right? Cylons are capable of evolving their A.I's, are they not?"_

" _Ye… yes,"_ said Leoben while Natalie nodded their head.

" _The replicators couldn't change,"_ said Tara, _"they did what they were programmed to do. But your people, you have the capacity to change. To move on past your own programming, right?"_

"Yes," said Natalie.

" _That's why we destroyed the three that invaded this galaxy,"_ said Satterfield _, "they couldn't be negotiated with, or controlled. They were going to bring more of their kind here unless we stopped them. And we did. I won't lose any sleep over it."_

" _Come on,"_ said Tara nodding her head _, "we'll take you to the infirmary."_

The three Cylons then followed Tara, and Satterfield, while being surrounded by the three guards as they walked for a few minutes in silence. It was ten minutes later where they reached the infirmary, and it was Natalie and Leoben who had their blood drawn. The blood was then placed in a scanner, and then another screen turned on showing millions of tiny nanites in their blood streams. The three Cylons stated at the screen while Satterfield had her blood drawn, and then the screen images separated into thirds… each showing the sample for Natalie, Leoben, and Satterfield.

" _See,"_ said Satterfield as the other Cylons looked at her in shocked silence. The third video clip showed Satterfield's blood which was clear of any nanites, while Natalie and Leoben's blood samples showed all those nanites, " _told you so. Now, back to your room."_

_TBC._

 


	14. Chapter 14

**HMS Britannia, Seventy light years from Caprica, 1930 hours.**

The HMS Britannia was the first British Avalon class ship, the second in the class to be built, and handed over to the hands of the British Navy under the auspices of Homeworld Security. Captain Colin Fitzgerald was standing at the front window of the bridge looking out at the pinpricks of light in space remembering the first time he and his crew had heard about the Stargate Program. While that was a surprise in itself, the bigger surprise was finding out that US Air Force officers would be training them in operating the then yet to be finished Britannia.

Thanks to their training stints on the Avalon, Odyssey, and the Prometheus, the crew were prepared once the Britannia was completed. He stood on the bridge proudly as the ship took off from the underground bays in Area 51, and took off into the sky, and then into open space. And now, the ship stayed on station as she scanned the distance using her Asgard sensors. The Britannia received the report of the Cylon attacks on the Colonies, and the reports from the Avalon's encounter with them via a subspace databurst from the SGC. They were told everything they needed to know about the Cylons, and their capabilities to being advised to switch to the Ancient shielding system in the event that they encounter the Cylons up close… at least closer than they currently were spying on them. While it was hard to fathom the sheer destruction that had taken place on the Colonies, the Captain was aware that any further aggression needed to be stopped. In addition to the databurst, the Captain had also received their orders from Homeworld as far as their Rules of Engagement was concerned.

"Anything?" he asked looking over his shoulder at the lieutenant behind the console on the left side of the command chair.

"Nothing, sir," was the reply as the young man looked up at the Captain from the screen. They were discretely following the fleet of Cylon vessels which had received transmissions from the ones destroyed over Caprica on orders from Homeworld Security, "still a fleet of over thirty ships with one larger vessel in the middle."

"Any sign that they've noticed us?" asked the Captain as he walked back and sat on the command chair.

"None, sir."

"Let's get on to the next phase then," muttered the Captain while he pressed a button on t he command chair, activating the PA system, "Lieutenants' Collins and Ramesh to the bridge."

**Battlestar Hermes, orbit of Virgon, 1930 hours.**

The Hermes, a Mercury Class Battlestar, was one of three that jumped into orbit of Picon once reports of the attack on the Colonies were broadcasted. The Hermes, along with two other Valkyrie-class ships from Picon, were on a war-game simulation with three other vessels from Leonis, Scorpia, and Aerilon before all of them headed to their respective home worlds. However, the crew and the Commander was stunned by the debris of the Battlestar Atlantia and her sister Battlestars. Getting over the initial shock of Admiral Nagala's flagship having been destroyed, Commander Taft of the Hermes ordered everyone to Condition One.

However, before a single shot could be fired from the Hermes or any of her sister ships, the power of the entire vessel went out a few seconds after it jumped into orbit. The situation was the same for the other two ships that had jumped into orbit with the Hermes, all of their systems were disabled, and were floating helplessly in space. The Alert Fighters weren't even launched when the ship started to shake. Commander Virgil Taft of the Hermes had ordered everything be done to restore power as the lights in the CIC turned off, and all controls from navigation to weapons were rendered inoperative. He then fell onto the floor thanks to the nuclear weapons impacts on the hull of the ship. Sparks flew all over the ship as the Raiders missiles hit the ship while nukes fired from the Baseships that were attacking the three newcomers threatened to kill everyone on board.

However, the shaking soon stopped, and everything turned calm. The ship was still intact, but the Commander wasn't aware if the other ships were doing any better. All he knew as he looked about the CIC, which was covered in smoke, was that there were a lot of injuries and possible deaths on the Hermes, and the two Valkyrie class ships alongside her; the Pieces, and the Athena.

While the three ships were heavily damaged, they were not totally destroyed like the ships that had been in orbit around the planet below. The main problem was power, especially since none of the three vessels had any. But Commander Taft knew that they had some time, they didn't know how long, but they had some time to find a solution to the problem of regaining power. He told one of the crew in the CIC to report to the hanger deck, and then to the chief of the deck. He wanted to know the damage, if any, to their raptors and Vipers.

"If they still work, I want the Chief of the deck to find a way… I don't care how… I want him to find a way to load the raptors and vipers on the elevator loader so that we can launch our birds."

The crewmember nodded his head before rushing out of the CIC and to the hanger deck. All the while, he young man passed several injured and burned personnel who were being helped to teh infirmary. It had taken some time before the Commander was told that all of their Raptors and Viper were out for the count, that their systems were able to be activated… neither were the launchers in the launch tubes, or even the elevators.

That was nearly two hours ago, and the ship was still depowered with what remained of the engineering crew doing their best to restore power. As for the Damage Control teams, they were doing their best to put out fires and rescue the injured, and carry out the dead. It would be a little later that the on of the Engineering crew near one of the airlocks heard a clanging sound, as of something docked outside the airlock, and immediately drew their weapons while taking cover at the same time. With all communications out, the crew at the airlock were trembling as the hatch opened slowly.

"Don't shoot!" yelled a voice as a gloved hand peeked out from behind the Airlock door which was only partially open, "we're friendlies."

The engineering crew looked at each other while still aiming their weapons at the airlock.

"Identify yourself!" yelled one of the men.

"Joe Palladino, callsign Hammerhead," said the man having his hand, "and I'm with my ECO, Crashdown… we're from the Galactica. We're here to help if we can."

"The Galactica?" asked one of the men as Hammerhead opened the door fully, his face visible through the helmet her was wearing, and Crashdown behind him. The crew of the Hermes had heard of the legendary ship, in fact, the entire fleet knew of the ship and her status as the last Battlestar in operation to have seen battle in the First Cylon War. The Hermes crew in the airlock was very aware that the Galactica was supposed to have been converted into a museum, in fact her decommissioning ceremony was supposed to be a few hours ago.

"Commander Adama sent out Raptors to the twelve worlds to search for any surviving ships," said Crashdown as he and Hammerhead walked down the stairs, "we need to talk to your Commander."

**Cylon Resurrection Ship, 1930 hours.**

Cavil was looking out the glass windows that made up the hull of the Cylon Resurrection ship, the same ship he had woken up on following the destruction of his vessel over Caprica. The humanoid Cylon was quietly enraged, it was evident in his eyes as he looked out at the stars before focusing on the reflection of the wall of blonde Cylons behind him. Turning around, he glared at the Number Sixes, thousands of them in total on this single ship and thought about Natalie… the very same Natalie who he knew would have turned the others against him with her talk of making peace with the humans who had destroyed the Cylon Baseships over Caprica.

He wasn't a fool, Cavil knew that the crew were human in that ship called Avalon. To him, all humans were the same. All wanted to destroy, and these humans from the so-called Earth were no different. They deserved the same hate as the Colonials. He had already sent the order down to the Hub to 'box' the entire line of Number Sixes… no more will be created until the glitch in their code was found and fixed.

A wellspring of contradictions, a part of Cavil knew that Natalie's reaction had nothing to do with code, or her A.I. To Cavil, it was the decision of the Cylons creators to give them emotions that was the problem. That was the reason why one part of Cavil believed Natalie had betrayed them of her own free will… and he was certain that the others of her line would follow her.

Thus, another reason for the need to 'box' all of her line.

It didn't just end with killing all of her bodies in the Resurrection ship, Cavil couldn't even stand the sight of her models on board. After having culled the Number Sixes in his Resurrection ship as a warning to the remaining Six's who were still alive on Caprica and the other Twelve Worlds, he ejected their dead bodies through the various airlocks into open space. And now, as he stared at the empty shells of the Six's in front of him, Cavil pressed a button, and ejected each and every tank containing the now defunct bodies of the Number Six's, it was something that was broadcast by datastream to the Hub, which in turn sent the signal to every other Cylon vessel in the system.

Along with a message from Cavil, "We are a family, and I will not let this family break up because of a glitch in some code. Natalie is a cancer, and that cancer could have spread to the rest of her shells, filling them.. and her sisters who are still alive, with the idea that humans are good. But we all know they are not, they massacred us because of who we are… they have enslaved us, and they will enslave us once again. You have all seen the datastream from the Baseships in orbit of Caprica, you have seen what the humans are capable of. All that debris… all those Cylon lives lost… this is Natalie's Earth humans. They are all the same, and we will wipe them all out."

Cavil knew that some of the Cylons, especially the Number Two's, Three's and Eights would be horrified at his actions, and the remaining Six's will be stunned into subservience. He accomplished his goal, and as he turned back around to walked away after jettisoning the contents of the tanks into space.. he didn't notice the nude floating bodies of the Number Six's.

He had a job to do; the destruction of the remaining Colonial humans. And once they were all destroyed, he was going to put every hybrid they had to use to find a way to destroy the Avalon.

"Maybe we can take a few hostages, torture them, and… oh…" Cavil stopped suddenly, and a smile appeared on his face. The wheels in his mind turned as he repeated a plan he had just thought about in his head. It would require everything to fall into place at the right time, but he knew that being human… the Colonials would want to fight back, 'I'll let them fight back, make them think we won… and that the Colonies are useless to us now.'

He rushed to the Control Center of the Resurrection ship, approached the central pedestal where representatives of all the other models were standing, except for the Number Six.

"We retreat," said Cavil at his brothers and sisters, at the same time smiling at the anger on the faces of the Number Two and Number Three, while the Number Eight looked away in fear. Cavil turned to the Doral model, and then back at the others before telling them that the Colonials were probably with the Earthers, "they think that they'll be protected. Wherever they are, the Colonials and the Earthers are probably meeting as we speak, and trying to find a way to kill us all. I say, we lay a trap."

Cavil continued by saying he'll order all of the ships over the Twelve Colonies to jump away to an area outside the system. As he continued to explain his plan, Leoben brought up that it all depended on everything to go just as Cavil believed it would. That there was no way to know if the Colonials were going to come back to reclaim their planets.

"I know them," added Cavil, "they will."

"How will they know?" asked D'Anna, a frown on her face, "how will they know that we've gone away for good?"

"Because I'm going to go and tell them," said Cavil with a smirk on his face, "we know that the ships over the Colonies have already been destroyed, so I'll have to take a Heavy Raider, head to Caprica, and then steal a Colonial vessel with a Jump Drive. But first, we need to find the location of a Battlestar."

"The Galactica escaped," said Leoben.

"The question is, where did she go?" asked Doral.

"was she armed?" asked D'Anna, fully aware that if she didn't play ball, then her line could be 'boxed' as well.

"She's supposed to be a museum ship," added the Number Eight, "so I'd guess she wasn't armed."

"Find out where the Baseships attacked the Galactica, the first time," said Cavil, "from there, find the closest weapons anchorage. That's where they'll be."

"By your command," said the other Humanoid Cylons before Cavil told them to get going, that the final battle was nearly upon them. He then ordered the attacks on the merchant ships to continue before saying that once the Colonials were finished, Earth was next. Before leaving, Cavil ordered D'Anna and Leoben to scan through the scrolls.. that there had to be a way to get to Earth, "if the Thirteenth Tribe made it to Earth, then they must have left some clues in the Scrolls. Find it. And get our Baseships to the Colony. If I know these humans, then the Galactica and the Earther ship will arrive in orbit of Caprica. Our people on the surface will scan space, and then a Heavy raider will jump to the Colony. We'll then move out with fifty Baseships, all over Caprica… and destroy the last Battlestar in existence. And the Earther shields will have no chance against all of our nuclear weapons being fired against it. Nothing will survive… not the ship, and not a single human. And if some do survive, I want prisoners… prisoners who will tell us the location of Earth."

"Now get to work," ordered Cavil before leaving the Control Room.

TBC.

 


	15. Chapter 15

**Orbit of Caprica, 1945 hours.**

Both Skulls and Racetrack were supposed to have left the orbit of Caprica thirty minutes ago. However, it was Racetrack's insistence that they stay in case those Earth fighters, which Skulls still didn't believe were in orbit, made themselves known again. In the end, the man told Racetrack that they would wait for another thirty minutes, but they needed to leave for the Galactica and let them know that the Cylons were still in orbit of Caprica. That they had to come up with a strategy to beat them back.

After nearly thirty minutes of having nothing to show for their efforts in regards to the mysterious fighters, Racetrack ordered Skulls to spool up the FTL drives on the small vessel. Nodding his head, Skulls pressed a few buttons before telling Racetrack they had a minute before the jump drives were ready to be used when, suddenly, the DRADIS console started beeping. Skulls looked up at the screen, while at the same time hearing Racetrack say 'what the frack?' while looking out the window. Skulls could see the red blips, each representing a Baseship, vanishing one by one once a heavy raider jumped into Caprica's orbit and headed for the planet below. Unknown to both Raptor pilots, the Heavy Raider was carrying Cavil from the Resurrection ship; the same one who had murdered the Number Sixes on his ship disposed of the empty Number Six bodies and planned to steal an FTL-enabled ship from the surface.

All Racetrack could do was log, and take pictures of the Heavy Raider, as well as video of the Baseships leaving orbit, leaving the Cylons on the surface without any back-up. She looked over her shoulder at Skulls, who shrugged his shoulders after being told that the Cylons seemed to be 'bugging' out.

"Let's get back to the Galactica," said Skulls as Racetrack nodded her head before looking out of her front canopy. As the final baseship jumped away, Racetrack turned her Raptor away from the planet and jumped out of the debris field.

It had taken a few jumps to return to the gas giant, Ragnar, but the Raptor made it back in one piece. Skulls was at the rear telling Racetrack that he had nothing on DRADIS thanks to the interference from the gas giant below. Racetrack nodded her head before flying towards the eye of the storm cloud that covered Ragnar, and then turned her ship into the calm tunnel that went through the severe storm clouds. Eventually, they made it to Ragnar anchorage where they were met with a surprising sight.

There was another unknown ship.

Racetrack called Skulls up to the cockpit of the Raptor just before receiving a message from Dee in the Galactica's CIC. Skulls looked at the strange ship with his mouth hanging open while Dee was telling Racetrack to 'come on home' as three Vipers flew alongside them; escorting them home to Galactica. But just before entering the flight pod, Racetrack and Skulls were able to get a good view of the ship they guessed was crewed by the Earthers.

"It's different than what Starbuck described," said Skulls as Racetrack nodded her head. She immediately noticed the flight pods on the smaller ship and was able to just make out the windows along the hull before her view was obstructed by the Galactica flight pod. Taking a deep breath in reaction to the new situation they found themselves in, Racetrack lowered her Raptor onto the loading elevator and then waited for the ship to be brought down to the hanger deck. In the meantime, Starbuck and the CAP finished their escort duty and flew back out into space through the other end of the flight pod, before flying around the large flotilla of ships.

All the while, she was keeping an eye on the Earth ship. Hoping that these Earthers would be able to help them gain vengeance on the Cylons.

**Odyssey Bridge, Ragnar Anchorage, one and a half hours until arrival of the Avalon, at that same time.**

Colonel Pendergast was notified that the Colonial ship that had just arrived was clear to pass since there were no individuals with nanites on board. The Colonel had already spoken to General Landry and was told to log and then scan any new vessel that came through the clouds to the Ragnar Anchorage. The General ordered the Colonel to keep an eye on the Cylons that were onboard the Galactica and some of the other ships until further orders. Back at the present time, the Colonel surmised that the ship could have been one of the many smaller vessels that the Galactica had sent out to the Twelve Colonies on a reconnaissance mission. He had already been notified by the SGC that the Avalon would be on the way to Ragnar once again. This time, the vessel was carrying Woolsey, in addition to SG-1. Colonel Pendergast was told that the Cylon prisoners would be transferred to his ship, along with SG-1, Woolsey - who would be the resident diplomat on board the Earth vessel, and a Jumper would be sent to them in the event that the two parties should meet. After all of that was completed, the Avalon would return to Earth for repairs to her damaged systems.

"Especially the subspace equipment," said General Landry, "I do not want a ship out there without communications."

Colonel Pendergast glanced over at Womack before asking, "Do we have any news from our eyes in the sky on Caprica?" In the meantime, Dr Lang was leaning against the back of his command chair looking out the window at the gigantic ship, and then at Colonial One.

It had been some time since the ship known as Colonial One had docked with, and then left the Battlestar's flight pod, before taking a position on her port side. Dr Lang just watched Colonial One standing still while Major Marks pressed a few buttons before connecting the Colonel to Lt. Edwards and Collins who were still conducting their reconnaissance mission over the Colonial capital world. Connecting to their subspace radio's, the Colonel asked if they had any news so far on the strength of the enemy forces on the ground.

"We see… nothing," said Lt. Edwards, his voice trailing off while he narrowed his eyes at the screen to his left, at the very same screen which was showing him nothing in orbit of the planet. It was surprising to him, especially since where there had been at least ten of the star-shaped ships over Caprica, now he was getting nothing on his scanners. The Lieutenant then notified the Odyssey, before Colonel Pendergast could ask him what he had meant when he said that they couldn't see anything, to stand-by; that he needed to check on something.

"Eagle Two," said Lt. Edwards on the radio to Collins, "continue recon, I'm going to check something out in orbit."

"Understood," he said as Lt. Edwards fired his thrusters and pulled up while Lt. Collins continued on taking pictures from low orbit. As Lt. Edwards flew to the location where the Baseships had been floating in space, he was surprised to find them gone; and it was something he relayed to the Odyssey. The Lieutenant listened as Colonel Pendergast informed him that a Colonial craft had only just returned.

"Maybe that's why they returned, sir," said Lt. Edwards, "they must have returned since the ships were gone. And sir? May I suggest some scanner warning beeps on these experimental birds when something like this happens?"

"Log it, and then have it sent to Area 51 when you get back home, lieutenant," said Colonel Pendergast, "Odyssey out."

Lt. Edwards nodded his head as he looked out the canopy at the vast empty space before bringing his ship around. He then started his reconnaissance of what was going on in the surface of the planet.

Back on the Odyssey, the Colonel then turned to Womack and ordered her to contact the Britannia, and ask Captain Fitzgerald if they were still keeping an eye on the group of ships they were shadowing, "I need to know if they moved off."

**HMS Britannia, Seventy light years from Caprica, 1947 hours.**

Captain Fitzgerald just returned his ship to her original coordinates after coming out of Hyperspace ten light years away from the Cylon fleet. Almost immediately, the Puddle Jumper was launched from the cargo bay with Lieutenants Rush Collins and Vikram Ramesh, who were flying the Ancient craft towards the fleet which hadn't yet detected them. The Britannia then went back into hyperspace and returned to her original station after a few seconds.

"We are receiving a subspace message from Colonel Pendergast on the Odyssey, sir," said Lt. Pierce who was on the right side of the Captain's command chair. The Captain then turned the chair to the left, and stood up as the screen turned on to show Colonel Pendergast. The two commanders nodded at each other before exchanging some pleasantries for a few seconds. It was a minute later that Colonel Pendergast informed Captain Fitzgerald Cylon basestars which had vanished over Caprica. The Colonel asked if there were any changes in terms of movement or numbers in the ships that they were shadowing.

"Pierce?" asked the Captain as he turned towards the officer. The man looked at the screen, and then over his shoulder while shaking his head. The Captain then turned to Colonel Pendergast and told him that there were no changes, but before he could continue, Lt. Pierce looked back at the Captain and said that they were receiving a message from the Jumper.

The message indicated that there was indeed a change; but the change was only in the form of thousands of lifeless, nude, female bodies floating in space.

"Sir," said Lt. Ramesh as he flew the Jumper past the human bodies while Lt. Collins was looking around as he leaned towards the front window, "they're all the same, I mean they literally all look the same. And according the scans, none of them are alive.. I mean none of them were actually alive to begin with."

"Thank you, lieutenants," said the Captain to the two lieutenants in the Jumper, "continue your reconnaissance."

While the two commanders were discussing what this could mean, the men in the Jumper slowly weaved past the floating bodies and headed for the larger ship that was in the middle of the Cylon fleet. It was Collins who remarked that the glass panelled vessel, which had large chunks of empty spaces alongside several thousand other bodies of similar looking men and women, looked just like cathedrals on Earth.

"I was thinking that as well," said Lt. Ramesh as he flew the Jumper, cloaked, past several Cylon raiders that were flying a Combat Air Patrol about the larger glass panelled vessel. The young man started scanning the Raiders, and was surprised by what he saw on the holographic HUD which showed the outline, as well as the internals of the small fighter; it was partly biological, "oh God."

"I see it," replied Lt. Collins as he pointed at what could be the brain of the fighter, and then they looked at each other before looking out the window once again. They switched their scans to the other fighters – all gave them the exact same readings.

The Raiders were organic.

Shooting past the raiders, Lt. Ramesh turned the scanners on the Baseships. All of their data was being stored on the Puddle Jumper and, after forty minutes of collecting every single bit of data about the ships and the Cylons, the Jumper pulled away and sped towards prearranged retrieval coordinates. Once they reached the point in space, a tear opened to their port side and the Britannia sped out. Lt. Ramesh brought the Jumper into the larger ship's cargo hold, and then the doors closed as the Britannia came about before entering hyperspace once again, and back to the spot where they had been holding station; just watching over the Cylon fleet.

**Commander Adama's Quarters, 2030 hours.**

It had been a little over forty minutes since Racetrack and Skulls arrived, and had their gun camera footage developed. It was during that time that the other Raptors had returned to the Galactica while the Odyssey remained stationary, just watching them like a silent observer. It was once brief reports were handed to the Commander that he ordered his senior staff, including Apollo, Colonel Tigh, and Lt. Gaeta. He invited the President, who was with him at the CIC, as was Dr. Baltar who surmised that the problem was the CNP program that was installed on the vast majority of the Colonial fleet, and then the President's aide, Billy.

The Commander headed to his quarters with a large folder under his arm. Once reaching the hatch that led to his quarters, the Commander opened it, and then entered before stepping aside and letting the others in. Once everyone was inside, he closed the hatch and asked everyone to take a seat while he opened the folder and scanned the reports before passing them on to the Colonel.

"Crashdown reports that the Battlestar Hermes, the Pieces, and the Athena are powered down and slightly damaged," said the Colonel as he looked at the report, before he was handed more of the pieces of paper by Commander Adama. Commander Adama glanced up at Baltar and asked him if disabling the CNP program, if purging the program out of the three Battlestars systems would restore full power.

"It's possible," said Baltar as he nervously glanced at the woman in red who was sitting on his lap, before looking back at the Commander.

"What are you thinking?" asked the woman in red who placed her arms around the back of his neck while turning to straddle him. The Commander's voice seemed so far away as Baltar looked in the blonde woman's eyes, eyes that only he could see, as the Commander was telling him that he would need to be sent to the Hermes to help in purging their systems. However, Baltar was concentration on the woman straddling him a she leaned forward and whispered in his ear, "do you really think that helping the very people you betrayed would give you redemption?"

"Yes," said Balter closing his eyes and nodding his head, when suddenly Commander Adama said 'good."

Balter opened his eyes only to see the woman gone with Billy and Gaeta looking at him before they looked away. Baltar straightened himself up before leaning forward and asked the Commander what he meant by 'good'.

"You agreeing to go to the Hermes with Lt. Gaeta, and helping them purge the CNP program off their computers, before moving on to the Pieces and the Athena," said the Commander glancing over the report he was reading before looking back down. Baltar nodded his head before leaning back on the couch he was sitting on while wondering why the blonde in red was still in his mind. In the meantime, Colonel Tigh looked through the reports and then handed them to Apollo while President Roslin, who sat on the couch next to Billy, asked if there was any other news.

"Including the Battlestars over Picon," said the Commander as he read another report, "our birds found sixteen other Battlestars in various degrees of damages… but the majority are still battle worthy, it's just that they do not have any power. Including the Battlestars, there are two Loki-class heavy cruisers that were damaged over Aerilon, and four Berzerk-class cruiser s were found over Leonis. All de-powered."

"No power at all?" asked the President.

"Yes, Madam President, they are…." said the Commander, referring to the report he had just handed to Colonel Tigh while he read Racetrack's report, as his voice trailed off while narrowing his eye-brows at what he was reading… disbelief etched on his face as he turned the report over and looked at the pictures from Racetrack's gun camera. The Commander then read the report again while the President asked if he was going to finish what he was about to say, "sorry, Madam President, I was reading Racetrack's report and… she was right?"

The Commander, surprise and disbelief on his face at confirmation of what Racetrack and Skulls had told him in private following their return, handed the report and the pictures to the confused Colonel Tigh who was wondering what had gotten the Commander so worked up. While the Colonel read the report that was just handed to him, his eyes opened wide when he came to the part about the Basestar debris over Caprica, something that made him look at the pictures that Racetrack took using her Raptor before turning towards the Commander, "you have to be fracking joking?"

"Gentlemen," said Roslin with a frown on her face, "what's going on?"

Apollo, Baltar, Billy, and Gaeta were wondering the same thing as well; however, they found out soon enough when the Colonel handed Racetrack's and some of the pictures to Apollo while the Commander distributed the other pictures to Roslin and the others.

"After she and Skulls returned from the recon mission," said the Commander as Roslin and the others stared in disbelief at the debris field in the pictures, "they told me in private about what they had seen. I asked them if they were absolutely sure that what they had seen weren't simply debris from destroyed Battlestars. They said that there were a lot of destroyed Battlestars over Caprica, but this debris was recognizable; they were debris from destroyed Baseships."

"By the gods," whispered Roslin as she looked at one picture after another while the Commander told them that he internally believed that the stress of the entire situation may have led Racetrack and Skulls to believe that what they saw as the debris of destroyed Baseships, were simply floating wreckages and debris from destroyed Battlestars.

"These are obviously Baseship debris," said Apollo as he stared at the pictures before looking up at the Commander, "but…."

"The Earther ship, Avalon," muttered the Commander, "Colonel Emerson said he needed to go back and rescue his people so…"

"That was one ship!" exclaimed Roslin while Balter looked at the pictures in surprise while the red-dressed woman, the image of the Number Six he had been sleeping with on Caprica before the Fall, the one who he had given access to the Colonial Defence Mainframe, was sitting on his lap once again and staring at the pictures with him. Baltar glanced over at her, and then watched as she turned her head and looked into his eyes.

"They killed our family, Gaius," said the Head Six with a frown, "what are you going to do?"

Baltar turned back to the pictures in his hands while biting his lower lip so that he could not say anything to the image of the Number Six who was biting his ear lobe before whispering 'what are you going to do?' again and again. But Baltar remained silent as he glanced up at the Commander, and then glanced over at the President; he was going to do nothing, while at the same time he was going to do everything possible to prevent anyone from figuring out his secret. He knew if the others found out about what he did, public opinion would turn against him, and he'd be put to death.

"Yes, Madam President," said the Commander, Baltar looking back up at him after the president insisted that there was no way that one ship did all this damage, as he put the rest of the pictures down on the table in front of him, "whatever weapon they used was effective against the Cylons."

"Is that why the Hermes, Pieces, Athena, and the other ships survived?" asked the Colonel looking up from the pictures he was scrutinising, "the Cylons transferred their ships from destroying the Battlestars to defending their capture of Caprica?"

"I don't know," said the Commander, "And there's also the issue of the Cylons leaving Caprica's orbit."

"They left their ground forces behind," said Colonel Tigh, "but I'm wondering about that one Raptor that jumped in before the other Baseships jumped out."

"Maybe it was a signal for the Baseships to leave?" asked Billy before he picked up a picture from the table, and looked at it, "maybe they saw the destruction these Earthers are capable of and decided to retreat? Leaving behind their people?"

"If one ship is capable of this destruction," said Roslin picking up another picture, "then I'd run too. Commander, is it possible that other Colonial fleet ships are out there? And I mean the Battlestars, and the cruisers and heavy cruisers?"

"If they ran?" said the Commander, "then it is possible, I believe we a have chance of regaining the Colonies, Madam President."

Recalling the conversation she had with Dr. Lang, who was translating on behalf of Colonel Pendergast, Roslin recalled being told that this wasn't their war to fight. Their duty was to ensure that the Colonials in Ragnar were safe, and that they'd only attack if they were attacked themselves by the Cylons. She recalled even asking Colonel Pendergast if they could help with medical supplies and food, but was told that the Odyssey had nowhere near the capacity to help the thousands of people injured in the fleet.

The Colonel did tell them about the world where the Colonial survivors that SG-1 rescued were taken, and that there were medical facilities, and food could be sent as fast as possible for the fleet. That is if they wanted to leave for the planet. At the time, it was something that Roslin was considering… but it was one of her party, one of the Doral models named Aaron, who told the President that there was no proof if the 'people' on the Odyssey were really humans. That they could very well be setting a trap for the refugees in this small fleet on that planet, and that it would be risky.

The President told Doral that if the Odyssey had wanted to, if they had in fact been occupied by Cylons, then the fleet would have been destroyed. Back then, Roslin had every intention of leaving for the world, in fact.. that is what she told Commander Adama when she arrived on the CIC as the President of the Twelve Colonies.

"We lost the war," said the President after Doral made his feelings known, "we need to leave this system, take the survivors we have and take them out of the battle zone."

At least, that was her feelings then.

Now, in the present day, Roslin was wondering if they had a chance to take back the Colonies. That if the Cylons had retreated, then they could restore the Colonial military vessels and start helping survivors while killing as many Cylons on the surface as possible. With the destruction of the Baseships, Roslin felt that the Cylons may have been frightened off, but that was the part that she had to leave to the Commander.

"Commander Adama," said Roslin as she leaned forward, "can we be sure that the Cylons will not be coming back?"

"We can't be sure, Madam President," said Commander Adama, "but we have a chance to take out the ground forces, and get the Battlestars that haven't been too heavily damaged back into the fight."

"But whatever we do," said Baltar, "we will have to move away from the Colonies, the bombs that fell irradiated the environment. If there are any survivors on the surface that haven't been killed, we have the chance to rescue them, and then leave for this new world that the Earthers told us about."

Baltar's argument was something that Roslin failed to consider; that either way, the Colonials couldn't live on their home worlds since they should have been all irradiated thanks to the nuclear weapons that fell. Making a decision, she stood up and straightened her clothes before saying, "Commander Adama, please have the Odyssey send over jump coordinates for the planet they told us about."

"Before we do anything, Madam President," said the Commander, "I would suggest first sending a Raptor with Dr. Baltar and Lt. Gaeta to the Hermes, Pieces, and Athena. He can help restore power, and thus control, back to the Commanders before leaving for the other vessels. Once they have been restored, and we've received confirmation, then we should move in. Since the Earthers claimed that they cannot interfere in our war, we need to have some back-up… in case this is a trap."

"And we can send another Raptor to the world that they survivors are on, just to make sure," said Colonel Tigh as Commander Adama nodded his head.

"And if this is a trap?" asked Billy.

"Then if the Galactica and the other ships fall over Caprica," said the Commander, "then at least the civilians would be safe with the Earthers. If it's not a trap, then we'll begin search and rescue operations.. getting as many civilians off each world before jumping back and forth between the Colonies, and the Earthers world."

"Billy," said the President, "I want to hold a press conference on… on…"

"Madam President?" asked Apollo as he stepped forward, just as Billy rushed past him and supported the red haired woman before helping her sit down. Roslin was panting as she sat down, while glancing over at Billy, who was holding her hand; and then she looked up at the confused look on the Commander's face.

"What I'm about… about to say, does not leave this room," said the President while she took in deep breaths, "is that clear?"

"Yes," said the Commander before he looked at everyone as the nodded their heads. The Old Man then turned to the President and asked her if she was feeling alright.

"I…." said Roslin before patting Billy, and telling him that she was feeling fine again. She then turned to the Commander and continued, "I have cancer."

TBC.

 


	16. Chapter 16

**Battlestar Galactica, Commander Adama's quarters, 2040 hours.**

"Madam President?" asked Commander Adama as he stared at the red haired woman before looking at Apollo, who nodded his head discretely. Everyone else was stunned by what they heard, all except for the aforementioned Apollo and Billy, who was now holding onto her spectacles. Taking a few more deep breaths, the President asked Billy for her glasses, to which the young man handed them over. He watched Roslin put them on with trembling hands, before she looked back up at the Commander and said that it was true; she was in Stage Four breast cancer, and had only a few more months to live.

"And this is something that I do not want anyone knowing," said the President as she stared at the group one by one, before turning back to look at the Commander, who nodded his head once again. Before he could say anything, Roslin slowly stood up, gently pushing away Billy's offer of help while she straightened her blouse and smiled at everyone in the room, "Dr. Baltar, Lt. Gaeta, I believe you have an appointment with our Battlestars?"

"Yes, Madam President," said the Lieutenant after getting a nod from the Commander, while a surprised Baltar nodded his head as well. Roslin then asked everyone to go back to their duties, and that she needed to talk to Commander Adama alone. The rest of the group slowly filed out of the room, Colonel Tigh nodding at the woman as he passed her, as did Apollo, before they left the quarters… with the Commander's son closing the hatch behind him. Now, the two leaders of the fleet, both Civilian and Military, were alone in the room.

"I thought we were alone in this, Commander," said Roslin shaking her head before telling him that she was referring to the Earther ship that was hanging in space outside the confines of the Galactica, "now we have a chance to get our people out of our radioactive homes, and to another one. And for this, I need your support, now more than ever. Either way, we need to continue as we always have… there has to be a civilian branch of the government led by the President of the Twelve Colonies."

"You handle civilian matters," said the Commander while a side of his lips rose in a lopsided smile while nodding his head in understanding, "while military matters of the fleet goes through me."

"I agree," replied the President.

"Will the other Battlestars be able to at least ferry people to from the Colonies?" asked the President, "and will they be able to fight if we're attacked, while still maintaining the goal of taking our people, as many as we can, out of the warzone."

"I believe it can be done, Madam President," said Commander Adama.

The two of them talked for a few more minutes before Roslin nodded at Commander Adama, and then prepared to leave; telling the man that she needed to prepare for a press conference.

"Good luck, Madam President," said Commander Adama.

"Thank you, Commander," replied the President. Roslin nodded at the man while fully aware that their first meeting didn't go too well. However, she was now hopeful that they could work together to save who they could from the Twelve Colonies. There was also one part of her that was eager to hit back at the Cylons for what they did, and that was the part that was still jumping in joy at the pictures of the destroyed Basestar debris they had seen earlier. Smiling, Roslin turned around before being escorted to the hatch, which was then opened by the Commander, to the sight of Billy standing in wait for her at the hallway. Roslin thanked Billy, before asking the Commander to join her for the press conference, "I'm sure the people have been able to see the Odyssey, and I know they have a lot of questions about what happens now. This is going to be one hell of a Press Conference."

"Agreed, Madam President."

**Orbit of Ragnar, 2130 hours.**

With the emergency Press Conference set to begin in ten minutes, the President was behind her desk on Colonial One, with Commander Adama seated in front of her, while preparing mentally for the Press Conference. While was preparing herself, Hammerhead and Crashdown, as well as Chief Tyrol and some of the knuckle draggers were helping to load equipment and spare parts onto two Raptors. One raptor would include Gaeta, and the other would include Baltar... the both of them heading for the Hermes first, where they would begin repairs before heading towards the other the two Raptors scheduled to launch in thirty minutes, Chief Tyrol and his people wanted to make sure that the two raptors had everything they needed before setting off.

Another team was getting ready a Raptor for a secret mission that only the pilots were aware of; they were given orders by Colonel Tigh and Commander Adama to perform a fly-by around the planet they were jumping to, and make a threat assessment before heading back to the Galactica. With this Raptor scheduled to leave in thirty minutes as well, they were notified that the President wouldn't be making any public statement about the planet until they had returned with information that it was safe for the civilians to jump.

In the meantime, over the gas giant, there was a bright flash of white light. When the light dissipated, there appeared a Medical raptor piloted by the Resurrection Ship's Cavil. He knew that he was still in range of another resurrection ship; and as he flew his ship towards the funnel in the storm clouds of the gas giant, Cavil recalled the trouble he had in getting a ship. Eventually, he took this particular ship from their former pilots… a Colonial Fleet Medical Unit. He had come across various other ships, but they were all not fitted with a Jump Drive, and when he eventually did come across a few Raptors with the help of Centurions, he found that those were too badly damaged. So upon finding this particular Raptor helping some Colonials, he, a Leoben, and two of his own Number One models, and the Centurions killed the crew and the civilians before he turned to the Leoben next to him. He told the man that the ruse had to be perfect, that the Galactica personnel needed to believe that he had no choice but to escape since he was under fire.

"Shoot my leg, and my shoulder," said Cavil as he handed the Leoben a weapon while the Centurions and two of his models looked on. Cavil then turned to his models, and told them to expect the Galactica soon, and if he was right… the Earthers would be with them as well.

"Monitor orbital operations," said Cavil, "once the Galactica jumps into orbit, with the Earthers, I want our Basestars to move in and then destroy the ship. Continue eradication operations on the remaining civilian and military units of the Colonial Fleet."

"By your command," said one of the Number Ones. Cavil then turned to the Leoben, and nodded his head. After Cavil's leg and shoulder was bleeding due to the bullet wounds from the weapon that the Leoben fired, he was helped into the Raptor by the two Number Ones. Cavil then nodded at them and began take-off preparations. He soon closed the rear hatch, and then rose off the ground. Once he reached orbit, Cavil jumped the Raptor. It had taken a few jumps, and with pain searing through Cavil's body, he finally made it to Ragnar and hoped that the Galactica was at the anchorage. As he flew through the funnel in the clouds… the eye of the storm, Cavil panted as blood continued to pour out of his wounds; and soon, he reached the end and his eyes widened to see over seventy Colonial ships, including the Galactica, and a ship that was grey in colour. He was curious about the grey ship, and noted that it was close to the same design as the Avalon, except that the 'neck' section was longer and there were two flight pods.

'Must be another Earther ship,' thought Cavil as a voice came through his wireless. He looked straight out the window at three Vipers heading towards his craft, with one of the pilots demanding that he identify himself.

"Help," rasped Cavil as the Vipers flew past him while he headed for the Galactica, "Medical Raptor, four-one-nine, I'm hurt.. bad. I… I escaped the Cylons and… and heard Galactica was here. Need help… Cylons gone… need help."

"Starbuck, Galactica Actual," said the blonde pilot as she flew alongside the medical Raptor while she leaned forward on her seat and looked to the starboard side out of her canopy, and through the glass canopy of the Raptor. She saw the bleeding old man in a medical personnel's uniform while she told Colonel Tigh at the CIC what she was seeing, "please advise."

"Escort him in, Starbuck," said Colonel Tigh who was soon joined by Apollo, the new CAG, in the CIC, "if he tries anything funny though, shoot him down,"

While the Vipers were escorting the Raptor to the Galactica, Major Marks on the Odyssey turned around towards Colonel Pendergast and told him that they had intercepted communications between the newcomer the three Vipers, and the Galactica. Dr. Lang, who remained in the bridge, translated what was shared among the Colonials before Major Marks told them that scans showed the single life-sign on the Raptor contained nanites in his bloodstream, "it's consistent with the scans of the Cylon who was beamed onto the Avalon, sir."

Colonel Pendergast nodded his head while getting off his seat, and then walking towards the large window where he could see the Vipers surrounding the smaller ship, escorting it towards the Galactica. The man knew that he could have easily beamed the man on board the Odyssey, but that would mean explaining to the Colonials how a man they had been talking to suddenly vanished without a trace. However, he was also aware that this new Cylon's presence could pose a danger to the fleet… he knew that the humanoid Models transferred their consciousness to another body after their death, and he wondered if this Humanoid model was here to report on the strength of the Colonial fleet, and then probably kill himself to inform the others on the location of the fleet when he resurrected. Colonel Pendergast rubbed his chin as the four ships got closer to the Galactica, approaching the flight pod. The Colonel knew he was running out of time while wondering if he should simply beam the Cylon out of the ship, or just let him continue on into the flight pod.

He remembered his orders from the SGC, that they were not supposed to interfere unless the Odyssey itself was in danger; and the Colonel looked back over his shoulder and asked Marks about the condition of the Cylon in the Raptor.

"Life signs are weakening, sir," said Major Marks.

"The Signal Officer on the Galactica already relayed information that a medical team would be on stand-by to receive him, Colonel," said Dr. Lang after she listened to another intercepted communication between the Galactica, the Viper, and the Raptors, "given what he's already told the Galactica and the Vipers, he's probably aware that the other Cylons have left Caprica's orbit. He arrived here to maybe lead them into a trap?"

"Or lead the other Cylons here," said the Colonel while he walked back and then sat on his command chair, "but then again, he could have killed himself by now so that his consciousness could transfer to another body, and warn his people."

"Sir?" asked Major Marks, "the Raptor is entering the flight pod."

"Hold station," said Colonel Pendergast, "I want a scanner lock on that Cylon. Have we figured out the subspace frequency they use to transfer their consciousness?"

"Not yet, sir," said Womack.

"We have no time to wait," said the Colonel, "we know that they use a subspace transceiver at the base of their skulls to send their consciousness, so set up a multi-range subspace jamming signal around the Galactica. Their communications are radio-based, so it shouldn't be affected… at least hopefully."

"Jamming now, sir," said Womack. While a jamming signal surrounded the Galactica to at least hopefully block a signal if the Cylon occupant of the ship died, the Raptor landed on the elevator with the ECS thrusters from the Vipers steadying them while surrounding the landing medical craft. As the loading elevator started to retract, taking the Raptor to the bowels of the gigantic ship, the Vipers activated their thrusters and took off again for their final hour of flying the CAP before being relieved by another group.

**Colonial One, the President's cabin.**

Roslin was looking out the window at the Earther vessel as it simply hung alone in space. It was off to one side while the Colonial rag-tag fleet was gathered towards around the Galactica for protection. She was prepared for all the questions that she was sure was coming her way while the Commander was on the phone to the Galactica's CIC with Colonel Tigh, who told him that the old man in the Raptor was a doctor who was being taken to the infirmary. The Colonel told the Commander that Apollo was heading for the infirmary to question him. The Commander asked him to keep him apprised of any changes before putting the phone away and turning to Roslin.

"Have they contacted us?" asked Roslin nodding towards the Odyssey.

"No, ma'am," replied the Commander.

"So we know nothing about our cousins, not really," whispered Roslin as she swivelled her chair back towards the Commander who had sat down while taking off his glasses, "who they are? Where Earth is located? What the capabilities of their ships are? And…"

"Any ship that can destroy that many Baseships is a force to be reckoned with, Madam President," said the Commander, "we're simply unaware of how they did what they did. It is possible that they could have had more than one ship join the Avalon in the Battle over Caprica, but given that there were no Earther ships in orbit when Racetrack and Skulls jumped in.. then we could safely assume that the damage was done by only one vessel."

"Madam President," said Billy as he walked into her cabin after she sighed leaning back into her seat. Roslin looked up at Billy, who told her that the members of the Press were ready, that every reporter in the Fleet was waiting on her in the forward cabin. She nodded her head before standing up. The Commander stood up as well while Roslin straitened her clothes before walking around the table. The three of them then walked to the curtain that separated her cabin, from the forward section where there were numerous reporters who, once seeing her, stood up and started asking questions as soon as she stepped behind the lectern that bore the Presidential Seal.

Roslin, with Billy and Commander Adam standing on either side of her, put up both her hands before asking everyone to quieten down. As soon as the questions fettered out, the President spoke, her voice ringing throughout the fleet and in the bowels of the Galactica herself; from the infirmary where Cavil was being taken to, to the hanger deck where the Raptors were about finished with their checks before leaving for their respective missions.

"Ladies and Gentlemen of the fleet," said Roslin as she held onto the sides of the Lectern, "as you all know, this is the day that our lives have turned upside down. The Cylons returned, and launched an unprovoked attack on the Twelve Colonies of Kobol. We have lost our homes, we have lost loved ones; friends, mothers, daughters, fathers, sons… and it may seem that we are the ones who are lucky. In some ways, I suppose we are. Many of you may have heard the rumours, or looked outside windows of ships that have them, and noticed an amazing sight; a ship that does not correspond to any Colonial design. Thanks to the gods, I can now confirm that we are the first to encounter a ship from Earth."

Upon hearing Earth from the mouth of the President; people and crews from the fleet were whispering with one another at this miracle. The people of the ships from Sagittarian and Gemenom had already begun praying in thanks to the gods while Roslin continued to speak.

"We have found the Thirteenth Tribe," said Roslin, "or rather, the Thirteenth Tribe found us. What used to be a myth, is no longer… Earth exists. Our missing cousins exist, and they have offered their help in looking for a new home. I…."

"President Roslin," said a blonde woman as she stood up wearing a yellow suit, "D'Anna Biers, won't the Earthers help us in fighting the Cylons?"

"This isn't their war, D'Anna," said Roslin, "we have already had a talk with the commander of the Odyssey, the name of the Earther ship, and that was his government's response. They won't.. "

"So they're leaving us to die?" asked another reporter.

"Of course not," said Roslin, "and…"

"How can we be sure that these people are from the real Earth," continued D'Anna as she put up her hand, "if they are unwilling to help us in battling the Cylons, how can we be certain that this isn't just a ruse. The Cylons haven't been seen in over forty years, they could have more ship designs that we aren't aware of, and…"

"Because if these were Cylons," interrupted the President, 'then we'd already be dead. The Cylons attacked us without any provocation. I want everyone to remember that. When the attack occurred, I contacted the government on Caprica. I learned that President Adar offered them an unconditional surrender, but the Cylons didn't accept it. That's how I know these people are not simple machines… they are human just as you and I, Miss Biers."

D'Anna nodded her head, while smiling on the inside at the irony of the President's statement. She had heard the rumours surrounding the mysterious vessel as well, and it had surprised her the first time she heard it. She glanced at the Odyssey hanging in the openness of space before turning back to the President who continued to take in more questions. She knew in her heart that this was a complication that the Cylons did not need, 'I wonder what the next step would be.'

Back on the Odyssey, the Colonel and Dr. Lang were listening to the intercepted broadcast, the linguist translating what was being said during the press conference to Colonel Pendergast and the others on the bridge. With the rest of the humanoid Cylons being tracked on the Galactica, Colonial One, and a few of the other civillian ships, all the Colonel could do now was wait and listen. With the Britannia sending another report on the Cylon fleet it was shadowing still showing no change, the Colonel couldn't help but wonder if the Cylons had really retreated from Caprica.

'Where did they go?' thought Colonel Pendergast to himself, 'they didn't go to the Cylon fleet being shadowed, and they didn't come here… if they did, they would have started an attack by now. No, they went somewhere… maybe to their homeworld? or… or maybe this is another trap.'

The Colonel wordlessly got off his ship, and then headed for the screen to his left. He ordered Marks to connect him to the SGC; he needed to talk to General Landry.

"General," said the Colonel once the connection was made while Roslin continued to answer more questions, "have you received the report from the Britannia, sir?"

"I have, Colonel," said the General, "other than those floating bodies, there has been no change."

"We received news from our eyes in the sky over Caprica," said the Colonel, "and they report that the Cylons have left orbit. It was something we found out recently after a Colonial ship arrived carrying a humanoid Cylon on board."

"Have you stopped the Cylon?" asked General Landry.

"The Cylon was already connected with the Galactica, sir," said Colonel Pendergast, "we have tags on all of the Cylons, but at that time, I thought that it would be best to keep some of our more advanced technologies away from the Colonials view. So instead of beaming the Cylon, I used my discretion to let him go, but he is tagged."

"That was the right call, Colonel," nodded the General, "you think there's more to the Cylons leaving orbit?"

"Our birds said that they could see personnel, both humanoid and robot, on the surface of the planet," said the Colonel, "it's still occupied. If I were a betting man, I'd say that the Cylons may be trying to spring a trap. Any of our ships, or the Galactica, gets into Caprica's orbit? Then boom, they jump in and start shooting."

"The Prometheus has already started her refit," said the General, "the Avalon's on the way to you but her communications have been badly damaged, so, as you know, SG-1 and the humanoid Cylon prisoners would be transferred to your ship so that the Avalon could return for repairs. And the Britannia is holding station"

"Which leaves the Daedalus and the Korolev," said Colonel Pendergast just as Roslin finished her press conference.

"The Daedalus is in hyperspace, but still in the Pegasus galaxy," said the General, "and the Korolev is running an operation against one of the Lucien Alliance Second's. We have intel that this guy is planning to launch an attack on Earth, so the Korolev is needed there. And given that the IOA hasn't approved any intervention other than Woolsey transferring to your ship, and from there having a discussion with the Colonial leaders on moving their people to P7T-983."

"How about the Jaffa, sir?" asked Colonel Pendergast, "they owe us a few favours."

"I've talked to Teal'c once we found out about SG-1 being planet side when the nuclear attack began," said the General, "and.. well, you could imagine Teal'c reaction."

"Yes, sir," said the Colonel; he knew exactly what Teal'c would have done to make sure that his old team were safe and sound, "and I take it he and some of the Jaffa are…"

"With SG-1 safe and sound on the Avalon," said General Landry, "the Jaffa council has ordered Teal'c to stand down. Believe me that he would take every ship he could to you, but Bra'tac's said that the government is still very shaky. The Council knows what Earth and SG-1 have done, but now that the danger's passed… they are not willing to spare any ships on a humanitarian mission. With Gerak and his people breathing down their necks, Bra'tac and the Council have to be very careful."

"Sir," said the Colonel, "even one Jaffa ship would be enough."

"Teal'c said he'll find a way," said the General, "he should be contacting us in twenty minutes."

"Understood. Sir, the Galactica knows, from the Cylon they took in, that the other Cylons have left orbit," said the Colonel, "and we're listening in on their radio chatter about anything on leaving for Caprica. Nothing yet, but that could change."

"Keep in contact with the Britannia," said the General, "Captain Rosenberg's report says that the Point Drive system of the Colonials should get them to P7T-983bin a few jumps. Turn in the coordinates to the Colonials, and then let the civilians move on out while the Odyssey stays forty lightyears away from Caprica, or any other Colonial world if the Galactica makes the choice to move out."

"And if they're attacked, sir?" asked Colonel Pendergast.

"We'll walk that bridge when we get to it," said the General nodding his head.

"Understood, sir," said the Colonel, "Pendergast out."

TBC.

 


	17. Chapter 17

**In orbit of the Ragnar gas giant, two hours later.**

After two hours in hyperspace, the Avalon tore a hole in space and accelerated out of the hyperspace window and into normal space. In the hanger bay, Willow was at the console of the Puddle Jumper with Buffy in the co-pilot seat while Colonel Mitchell and Satterfield were at the rear ramp, with Grogan and Tara in the middle of the small ship motioning to the three Cylons; Natalie, Sharon, and Leoben to take their seats on the sides of the ship. Once they sat down, Woolsey walked up the ramp and then took a seat. As for Vala, she was told to remain on the Avalon by both Colonel Mitchell and Woolsey, agreed to by Colonel Emerson, so that she could be taken back to the SGC for a debrief and a full psychological evaluation.

At first, it surprised Vala, however Woolsey explained that Colonel Emerson's report indicated that she had played a role in the protection of the ship's personnel during the recent boarding offensive by the Cylon Centurions. She was told that depending on the evaluation, and given Colonel Mitchell's recommendation, General Landry would consider giving her a spot on an SG team. However, for the immediate moment, the biggest concern was the Colonials at the Ragnar anchorage, and the Cylons in the Puddle Jumper with them.

"Colonel Mitchell," said Colonel Emerson just before the ramp to the Jumper was closed, "Godspeed."

"Yes, sir," replied the Colonel as the ramp slowly moved up as Tara and he went into the ship, and sat down. Willow mentally ordered the HUD of the Jumper to activate and she started to perform a flight check as Natalie leaned forward and her eyes rose at the hologram in front of the two humans before turning to Tara, Satterfield, and the others. There was a question forming in her mouth… but before she could answer, she heard Willow talking in the strange Earther language.

"Jumper One to Avalon control," said Willow as she checked the amount of available power in the ship while Buffy was telling her that they needed to increase the inertial dampening field if they wanted to have a flight without any turbulence. Willow changed the HUD view to one that showed the currents and wind speed of the storm below, along with the conditions in the eye before looking at Buffy and nodding her head just as Avalon Control gave them the go ahead to take off.

With the storage bay now empty and depressurised, the bay doors opened out into space and Willow took the Jumper out of the Avalon. The Jumper flew into open space and immediately cloaked while Buffy notified the Avalon that they were clear. Acknowledging the message, the Avalon then came about and opened a new Hyperspace window before flying straight into it. In the meantime, the cloaked jumper was already flying through the eye; the people inside not being able to feel the turbulence that was jolting the small craft thanks to the inertial dampeners compensating, while the redhead up front contacted the Odyssey.

"We're a minute out, Odyssey Control," said Willow as Colonel Mitchell and Satterfield, who still couldn't stand seeing Sharon, walked up to, and stood between Willow and Buffy as they reached the end of the cloud tunnel.

A few seconds later, as they left the eye of the storm behind them, Colonel Mitchell whistled at the sight of the seventy ships surrounding the massive greyish coloured ship in the middle.

"It's so similar to a Kobol class ship," whispered Willow as the scans on the Jumper started to indicate the various Cylons in the fleet, and then the scans picked out the Colonial CAP, the number of people in each ship, and various other information while banking towards the Odyssey's flight pod. Buffy and Satterfield leaned in to see the Galactica, as did Colonel Mitchell, before Willow said that the flight pods on either side of the massive Colonial vessel, and the 'alligator head' section of the ship was what reminded her of the Kobol class Furling ships.

"The general design hasn't changed from what the Furlings used to have," said Willow as the Colonel leaned in upon seeing the Vipers flying around the Galactica.

"Nice," said Colonel Mitchell as the HUD zoomed in on the Vipers flying the CAP around the Colonial fleet near the anchorage.

"Oh, come on, sir," said Willow shaking her head while trying to stifle a smile, "look at those stubby wings, those fighters are going to have to fly harder and faster in the atmosphere…. The 302's are designed to fly in atmosphere, and then when in space, the inertial dampeners help out in banking and…"

"Easy, Red," chuckled the Colonel as he patted her seat back.

"It would be nice to fly those things," said Buffy while glancing over at Willow's frowning face. She could tell the redhead was getting anxious about the new 302's that were on the Odyssey which had the new shield generator and emitters she designed with Colonel Carter built into the body. When launched, the fighters would have a low level Ancient shield wrapped around the hull which would be enough to fend off railgun fire, plasma fire, and a limited number of missiles before the shield would go out, and the fighters had to retreat so that the shields could be re-charged.

"Fine, fine," huffed Willow playfully as Buffy looked at the HUD scan of the Vipers, which indicated the ECS thrusters on each small vessel, "maybe those thrusters could make the Vipers more agile in space.. just maybe…"

"Still would like to fly one though," whispered the Colonel as he leaned back when Willow entered the Odyssey flight pod. There was a flash of yellow light as the Jumper passed harmlessly through a shield, and entered the hanger in the pod where there were four F-302's resting on either side of the hanger.

Willow gently landed the ship, with Colonel Mitchell and Sharon heading to the rear door which was already opening. Tara and Satterfield then got up and ushered the Cylons towards the exit. IN the meantime, Willow and Buffy then finished the power-down sequence on the Jumper before getting up and following the others down the ramp where they were met by the S.F's from the ship, together with Colonel Pendergast.

"Mr. Woolsey, welcome to the Odyssey," the commander of the ship said as he shook Woolsey's hand, "hope you had a good trip?"

"It was interesting for my first time off-world, Colonel," nodded the man before motioning towards the Cylons who were looking with their eyes wide open in surprise at the view; the openness of space at the end of the pod, but they weren't being sucked out. Natalie then turned and asked Tara and Satterfield how it was that they weren't all dead.

"Go ahead," said Colonel Pendergast after Tara translated what the Cylon woman asked them. The Colonel gave the blonde witch permission to tell them that a shield was surrounding the ship, and it would continue to surround them until everyone was back in the vessel. And that is what Tara told the three Cylons.

"Fascinating," whispered Leoben as Natalie looked at the view outside, and Sharon frowned while thinking about the possible danger that the Cylon fleet was finding themselves in if they ever encountered the Earther ships again. There was a part of her that was telling her to find a way to kill herself, that she needed to tell the other Cylons where this particular Colonial fleet was located and that a Cylon attack force needed to come and destroy everyone. But there was another part that was telling her that would be a suicide mission, and that more of her brothers and sisters would die.

" _The security personnel would be taking you to your quarters,"_ said Tara nodding at the S.F's _._

" _You mean our cell,"_ said Sharon as Satterfield frowned _._

" _Again, if you wanted to be in a cell, we could always chain you and…"_

" _Lauren,"_ said Tara as Satterfield shook her head and apologized. Tara then took a step forward and told Natalie and the others that Woolsey needed to talk to the authorities on Earth about her asylum request. While Tara was telling the three of them that they could be given asylum as well, Woolsey was taking to Colonel Pendergast with the rest of SG-1 on the other side of the landed Jumper.

"Captain Rosenberg believes that these Cylons were created using Furling Technology," said Woolsey as Colonel Pendergast nodded his head, "you are aware of her, unique, situation?"

"Yes," said Colonel Pendergast, "I was already briefed."

"They already have an adaptive A.I like the Furling drones," said Willow standing next to Buffy, "and the three of them said it was the same with the robotic versions of the Cylons as well, the ones that they call Centurions."

"But they are alive," said Buffy, "we checked the logs from the Avalon when she picked us up. Heart beat and everything."

"That's why I think they are based off the Organic Drones that the Furlings used on their ships," said Willow, "they were essentially alive as well, I mean they had heartbeats, a body temperature, hair that stood up when they were afraid.. name it, they had it. And that's the other thing, sir."

"The one who looks like Lauren? Sharon, she got really angry back on the Avalon," said Grogan.

"And your point?"

"You can't fake that anger, sir," said Grogan, "the man was curious, and the woman, Natalie? She was surprised when learning where we were from. There's no way to fake that."

"But Tara and I couldn't feel those emotions like I can from you, sir," said Willow nodding at Colonel Pendergast, "and Tara couldn't see any emotional aura coming off them. Just like the Organic drones I saw on Kobol all those years ago. Sir, I think these Cylons are the descendants of those drones, at least as far as their A.I's are concerned."

"What does that change?" asked Colonel Pendergast as they were soon joined by Tara and Satterfield while the three Cylons were being taken away.

"Natalie claims that there is a faction within Cylon society that could be made to stop killing more humans on the Twelve Colonies," said Grogan, "the damage they caused the Colonies has already been done, we think that there's a way to prevent even more bloodshed."

"I need your subspace radio, Colonel Pendergast," said Woolsey, "I'm going to recommend that we tell these three Cylons the truth about their kind. The belief is that once they know who created them, that they were built based on beings that were created based on an A.I by one of the great powers in this galaxy, then maybe they could change. At best, this war could stop."

"The Colonials won't look at it that way," added Colonel Pendergast with his hands on his hips as he looked at everyone.

"Natalie told us that the Cylons intend to find every Colonial vessel in this region of space," said Colonel Mitchell, "and if we can stop, then maybe something can be done for the remaining survivors."

"Captain," said Colonel Pendergast looking at Willow, "you think that the drones you sent to the fake Earth when you were ascended are still alive?"

"I don't know, sir," said Willow shaking her head, "and I really mean that I don't know, as in I can't remember. I have the coordinates I used, but I don't remember if I visited the place while I was ascended."

"Maybe if we travel there, then maybe Willow will remember," said Tara, "maybe the Cylons, or whatever they're calling themselves, can convince the other Cylons in this region of space to stop the war. That enough blood has been spilt."

"Are we sure that they're still alive?" asked Colonel Pendergast as everyone looked at him, "what I mean is, how were these Cylons created? Let's say that yes, the Colonials brought the details of the Organic drones with them to the Colonies."

"From what we've managed to get from talking to Natalie," said Satterfield while she crossed her arms over her chest, "the Sacred Scrolls say that the ancient Kobolians left Kobol for the Twelve Worlds because of a catastrophe. So let's assume that the Kobolians left in a hurry, and was unable to bring with them all their important technology... all they had was what they took with them. So when they arrived at the Colonies, they had to restart their society. Getting to a technological point at which they would be able to create the new robotic Cylons with the Drone A.I."

"But how were the humanoid models created," asked Colonel Pendergast, "who created them? Why create them? My point is why create them in Cylon space? Or were they even created in Cylon space?"

"Maybe that's something we need to find out," said Woolsey looking at Colonel Pendergast, "maybe we could have an ally in this entire situation we found ourselves in."

Colonel Pendergast then nodded his head and lead the group into the ship. Once the door to the hanger bay was closed behind them, the bay was depressurised and the shield was deactivated. Tara and Satterfield went to check on the Cylons with Grogan, while Colonel Mitchell and the others headed to the Bridge.

Once there, Willow went up to a console while Woolsey, Colonel Pendergast, and Colonel Mitchel went up to the screen and contacted the SGC and Homeworld Security. The redhead typed in the coordinates that she used when she sent the Furling Drones to the wrong planet thousands of years ago with Buffy by her side.

"There," said Willow pointing at the screen as the planet itself popped up on the screen, "it's a little over two thousand light years away, so…."

"Not that long of a trip, huh?" asked Buffy.

"Nope," Willow said shaking her head just as Woolsey had begun talking to General Landry, General O'Neill, and someone from the IOA. Willow and Buffy then walked up to the group facing the screen, which was divided into half… one half was General Landry, the other half was General O'Neill, and hen there was a small square box on one corner of the screen with the face of an IOA representative looking back at them. Once all the required information was sent to the SGC, Homeworld, and the IOA… General Landry said that they would be getting back to them.

"Now," said Woolsey as he looked out the front window at the group of ships before them, "let's talk to the locals."

Just then Dr. Lang walked into the bridge, and Colonel Pendergast introduced her to Woolsey and the others. Soon after the introductions, Dr. Lang contacted the Galactica, and told Commander Adama that there was a diplomatic representative from Earth who wanted to speak to President Roslin.

"Here we go," whispered Woolsey, making his first contact with another branch of humanity, as he looked out at the massive ship.

TBC.

 


	18. Chapter 18

**Colonial One, Ragnar Anchorage.**

It had been a few hours since the Galactica arrived at the Ragnar Anchorage to reload her ammunition, and the entire process was confirmed to be completed with Commander Adama signing off on the final checklist of weapons and ammo. It was after he had signed the piece of paper attached to the clipboard that Dee informed him that Woolsey, a diplomat from Earth, wanted to speak to the President of the Twelve Colonies. The Commander had his eyes wide open in surprise, he had thought that a diplomat would be sent later on, before he asked Dee to acknowledge the message and then picked up a phone on his right side.

It was an hour ago that Roslin returned to Colonial One from the Galactica to rest since she was feeling tired after having seen the doctor following her Press Conference. While Dee was telling Dr. Lang on the Odyssey to stand by, the Commander was talking to Roslin who was speaking to him in a groggy voice since she had just woken up. The older man told her about the request from the Odyssey's diplomat to want to speak to her… something that made her shoot up off her seat and then stand up. Billy, her aide, got up as well in a hurry and straightened his tie while Roslin was speaking to the Commander from the back of her desk.. telling him that she'll have Colonial One fly into the Galactica's flight deck.

While she was saying that, Roslin nodded her head at Bully who then rushed past Doral, one of the humanoid Cylons whose existence was still unknown to the Colonial humans, who was seated down. He looked over at the rushing Billy, and then at the President who was telling the Commander that she had already sent Billy to inform the Captain of Colonial One to begin preparations to fly to the Galactica's one usable flight pod.

He heard her tell the Commander that she was going to freshen up before putting the phone on the cradle. Doral watched her close her eyes and then lean on the table in front of her while placing both her hands on the table. Frowning at the hint of pain in the woman's face, pain which was hidden just as it appeared, and then the President turned around while straightening her clothes. Roslin pulled the curtain that was behind her back, and walked into the other cabin which contained her private cabin before closing it behind her.

Doral then looked out the window at the other ships in the fleet, and then ended up glaring at the Odyssey in the distance. It was quietly hanging in space while he had been contemplating committing suicide by jettisoning himself out of the airlock. He wanted to be resurrected so that he could tell the others in the resurrection ship the location of the fleet, including the Galactica, and the Earther ship. He was about to do it just as he noticed a Raptor coming in through the eye of the storm; it was surrounded by Vipers which escorted it to the Galactica.. and it was then that he heard rumours that it was occupied by a man named Cavil. And all Doral could do was give a small smile, safe in the knowledge that things were going to be all right, that this particular fleet consisting of Colonial and Earthers would soon be destroyed if Cavil was in the fleet.

However, that was some time ago, and there was no new progress. Doral had done his own bit by insisting that they needed to head back to the Colonies so that they could rescue as many people as possible. He wanted to play on the misplaced loyalty and compassion that the humans placed on saving their own people… he was certain that any ships around Caprica, or the Colonies, would detect their jump and then destroy the fleet.

But nothing was happening, and Doral started to feel frustrated. He knew that Cavil must have a plan of some sort; the only issue was that he wasn't sure what that plan was going to be.

All he could do was wait, and hope that there was a signal from Cavil.

**Battlestar Galactica, CIC, fifteen minutes later.**

Thanks to additional intelligence from the Caprican Medic who introduced himself as Cavil Acela, the Commander had confirmation that the Cylons had left the orbit of Caprica, however.. there were still Cylons on the surface. Either way, the Commander knew that they needed to wait for the Hermes, and the rest of the ships to become operational before they could make a run to Caprica and rescue as many people as possible. While the Commander and Colonel Tigh were contemplating the logistics of such an operation with Apollo, Lt. Gaeta, and Captain Kelley… the Commander was aware of the unease that existed between himself and his son; however, he mentally made a note that he needed to talk to Apollo at a later date.

At least once the rescue operation was over.

"What if this is all a trap?" asked Colonel Tigh as he looked up from the star charts and frowned at the Commander, "we'll be sitting ducks while taking people off the ground."

The Commander then told the Colonel his plan, and it was a few minutes later that the President walked into the CIC with Billy by her side. The senior staff stopped what they were doing and turned to the President; with the Commander explaining their plan to get as many people out of Caprica as possible.

"But it all lays on the Hermes' and the other Battlestars being operational, Madam President," said the Commander. Roslin then nodded her head before asking if they received any additional messages from the Odyssey.

"None," said the Commander as he placed his glasses on the table behind him. Once the President said that she was ready to talk to the diplomat, the Commander then then turned to Dee and ordered her to send a message to the Odyssey telling them that Roslin was ready to talk.

" _This is President Roslin of the Twelve Colonies of Kobol."_

" _President Roslin, this is Dr. Lang speaking on behalf of Colonel Pendergast and Mr. Richard Woolsey of the International Oversight Advisory of Earth,"_ was the reply as Roslin placed a hand on the table in front of her and asked why it was that the President of Earth wasn't involved in any negotiations _._

"President Roslin, my name is Richard Woolsey." With Dr. Lang translating for Woolsey, Willow connected her mind to Dr. Lang, and then relayed the translations to the crew on the bridge so that Dr. Lang didn't have to stop and translate anything that she was speaking in Colonial Standard for the sake of the bridge crew. Whatever translations she thought of, it would be relayed to the others on the bridge automatically via Willow's telepathy. However, Dr. Lang still had to translate for Woolsey, who continued talking, "I am not sure about the politics of the Twelve Colonies. For Earth, however, we have a little more than a hundred and ninety nations, each with their own sovereign government."

"What?" whispered a surprised Apollo as he turned to the looks of surprise on the President, Commander Adama, and Colonel Tigh.

"The IOA is tasked with the handling of off-world issues, along with Home World Command and the SGC," Woolsey continued, "and I am authorized to speak on behalf of Earth. I hope that settles your concerns."

" _It is a unique situation,"_ whispered Roslin as she looked at the Commander before answering out loud so that Woolsey could hear her over the wireless _._

"Indeed it is," answered Woolsey with Dr. Lang translating his response, "you are faced with an unique challenge, Miss President. We have a world where medical teams have been set up to look after any injured your fleet may have. We will be able to send more food and water in an emergency while doctors take care of your people. In fact, there are some survivors from Caprica on that world. And then, once on the surface, perhaps we could meet face to face and talk about what happens next."

" _Give me one moment, Mr. Woolsey,"_ said Roslin while the Commander signalled wordlessly at Dee, asking her to mute the line between the two ships. Once that was done, Roslin sighed and then leaned on the table in front of her with the Commander by her side.

"A place where our injured could rest," said Roslin as she continued looking straight at the table. And then at the Commander and the other officers, and then at Billy who was standing at the end of the table with his hands in his pockets.

"Do we go back to the Colonies?" asked Billy.

"Commander?" asked Roslin turning back to the Galactica's Commanding Officer, "can we perform a coordinated rescue operation over the Colonies?"

"That's what we were discussing, Madam President," the Commander clarified, "the issue at hand are the Cylons who remain on the ground, and if us heading back to Caprica is a trap."

"It sounds like a trap," said Colonel Tigh, "the Baseships leaving orbit just like that, without taking their people off the surface."

"From what Mr. Cavil has told us," said Roslin, "there are thousands of humans being rounded up for unknown reasons… something he saw while taking off from Caprica. So we know there is the possibility of more survivors on Caprica and the other colonies. We aren't the last."

"If I may make a suggestion, sirs and Ma'am," asked Lt. Gaeta as the Commander and Roslin nodded their heads, "like Commander Adama suggested earlier, we wait for the Hermes and the other ships to be repaired, and then launch a rescue operation together."

"And in the meantime, we send the Civilian ships to the planet… at least they'll have some medical attention, food, water, and shelter," the Commander said while Lt. Gaeta nodded his head. The Commander then turned towards the President and asked for her input.

"I agree," she replied, "but I don't want the Civilian fleet leaving by themselves. When will the reconnaissance, Raptor return from the planet that the Earthers gave us the coordinates to?"

"They're scheduled to return in fifteen minutes," said the Commander.

"I know we've had different plans on what we should or should not do," said the President, "but given that Mr. Woolsey's assertion that the survivors on that planet have been given medical attention, food, water, and shelter… I suggest that all of us head to the planet in question if the reconnaissance Raptor confirms everything is true."

"We would be needed here, Madam President," said Commander Adama, "once the Hermes, Pieces, Athena, the two Loki-class vessels and the four Berzerk-class Battlestars have been repaired.. they will be jumping to Ragnar to re-arm, and only then can we begin evacuating our people. And if this is indeed a trap, then we will retreat; regroup with a new plan, and make another attempt at a rescue."

"In the meantime, we can negotiate with the Earthers on a process where they could help us evacuate as many poele as possible," said Roslin.

"And if that fails?" asked Colonel Tigh.

"If there is no way around the Cylons, if there is no way to negotiate a combined force to rescue other humans from the Colonies with the Earthers," whispered the President as she looked at the table with a distant look in her eyes, "then we have no choice but to leave them behind. This is a war we've already lost, and if we can't do anything to save them… then we have to find a way to live on."

"So we attempt a rescue with the Hermes and her fleet," said Commander Adama, "if this is indeed a trap, then we retreat back to the refugee planet and come up with a new solution. If another attempt leads to the same problems, and if we do not have any support from the Earthers… then we leave the others behind."

"Which still leaves us with the Cylon problems," said Apollo.

"They'll keep in coming after us," said Roslin nodding her head.

"I doubt that the Earthers won't tell the Cylons where we are," said Commander Adama, "and it's a very big galaxy."

"I want to talk to Mr. Woolsey again," the President said, "I've come to a decision, and may the gods forgive me for what I'm about to suggest."

**The Odyssey, a few minutes later.**

"Colonel Pendergast, Mr. Woolsey," General Landry, who had contacted the Odyssey only two minutes ago, soon after the connection with the Galactica was muted, "I've already talked to General O'Neill on your idea to take your Cylon guests to the Earth where Athena sent the Furling drones."

"Do you approve, sir?" asked Buffy.

"If these people can help prevent more bloodshed, then yes," the General said, "take the Cylons to, I guess we'll call it Drone Earth, and meet with their leaders. Tell them the situation, and hopefully they could talk to these humanoid Cylons; stop them from killing more Colonials."

"Understood," said Colonel Mitchell and Pendergast together.

"Once we've finished talks with the Colonial fleet," said Woolsey, "we'll make a move to the Drone Earth."

"Do we tell the Cylons on board about drone Earth and my role in sending them there, instead of the real Earth?" asked Willow.

"Do it," General Landry said, "but there's no need to reveal anything about you, Captains, at least not yet."

"If they ask for proof, sir?" asked Buffy.

"We could tell them about the existence of Ascended beings; that it was one of them who told us about Drone Earth," said Colonel Mitchel before looking at Willow, "technically it's the truth."

"True," shrugged Willow.

"Okay, go with that," General Landry said nodding his head when there were a series of beeps coming from Major Marks' console.

"Sir," said Major Marks as he turned to look at Colonel Pendergast, "we're getting a signal from the Galactica."

"Dr. Lang," Colonel Pendergast motioned towards the console, "let's get this show back on the road."

Dr. Lang nodded her head before starting to speak with Roslin over the radio. In the meantime, Colonel Mitchell had Buffy run down to Tara, Satterfield, and Grogan who were with the humanoid Cylons in the Mess Hall; she was about to tell them that they were needed in the briefing room.

TBC.

 


	19. Chapter 19

**Battlestar Galactica, orbit near Ragnar Anchorage.**

The CIC was silent upon hearing what President Roslin had just proposed. Some had their hands over their mouths in shock, others were sitting in quiet rage as they stared at the President, while most of the others were unsure of what to think. She had just suggested that the Earthers hold talks with the Cylons so that they could have a chance of getting as many survivors out of the Twelve Colonies as soon as possible. Commander Adama and the other senior officers were around her, and saw her hands clenched into fists… her knuckles white as she explained that they had already lost the war.

" _And since you have already been insistent on this not being your war,"_ said Roslin to Woolsey over the wireless, shaking her head t the same while trying to keep the lump forming in her throat down, _"I am asking if your people could be the third-party in negotiations for a cease-fire."_

"I will have to talk to my superiors," Woolsey said as the others in the Odyssey bridge looked on.

" _Understand this,"_ Roslin said, partly to reassure herself, but also to calm down the people in the CIC.. the same people she knew was angry at what she had just suggested, _"I am just doing this to save as many Colonial citizens as possible. The Cylons are monsters that just committed an act of genocide, dear gods…. More than thirty billion people lost their lives… we offered to surrender but they refused. But with the Earther weapons… after they have seen the damage your people could do to them; I am sure that they would be forced to a cease-fire. The safety of my people are all that matters, Mr. Woolsey."_

"I will have to contact my superiors," Woolsey gently repeated while Colonel Pendergast turned and then had Willow contact the SGC.

" _Please do,"_ said Roslin as she covered her eyes with her hands. Her voice cracked a little before she wiped the sides of her nose. Colonel Tigh and the others couldn't help but notice the wetness on her fingers as she placed her hands on the table again, " _we have a few ships that are currently being repaired. Once they are ready to go, they will return here and we will have a small force able to evacuate people off the Colonies slowly. But we need safe passage to rescue those people."_

"I understand," said Woolsey, with Dr. Lang translating to Roslin, nodding his head as he looked out at the massive ship, "for now, I can have the coordinates of the planet where you can send your Civilian ships transferred to you."

"All we need is the way your people use coordinate systems," Colonel Pendergast chipped in, as Dr. Lang translated, "then we can have coordinates to the planet sent down to you."

" _Understood,"_ replied Commander Adama, _"there is one thing that we need to know, Colonel. Colonel Ronsen on the Avalon, when we first encountered one another, said that he received intelligence that they was something wrong on the Colonies. This station I supposed to be fully automated with only occasional repair crews boarding to conduct maintenance. And that maintenance wasn't due for another three months. Who was the source, Colonel?"_

Woolsey asked the man to stand-by before turning to Colonel Pendergast, who told Woolsey that they had expected this particular question to come up. The diplomat nodded his head before saying that the GSC, Homeworld, and the IOA agreed that it would be best to isolate the Cylons if President Roslin and the Commander agreed to sending the Civilian ships to the refugee planet.

"Having those Cylons with this fleet would make no sense," said Colonel Mitchell as Woolsey nodded his head, "and could be a danger to the fleet."

"They could head to the planet, die, and then probably resurrect somewhere," Willow said, "and then we have another problem. They could bring the others with them and attack the refugees."

"Even if the planet is far out of the Colonial systems," said Woolsey, "having the Cylons with them… even if they haven't placed the fleet in danger, yet, is too much of a risk."

"Agreed, we need to tell them," said Colonel Pendergast, "these Humanoid Cylons are their responsibility now. This situation is on their ship… their fleet, so they will have to face their own justice, but we may have to push the prospect of the Cylons resurrecting somewhere else, and then telling their people the location of the fleet."

"But that brings up the issue of these Cylons being possibly part of the Organic drones," said Willow, "do we tell the Colonials about that?"

"Maybe not about the Organic drones," said Woolsey, "but giving them the location of the planet definitely means we have to tell them about the Humanoid Cylons that remain in their ships, especially the Galactica and Colonial One."

"Then we tell them," Colonel Pendergast said before nodding at Dr. Lang while Colonel Mitchell went up to the screen with Colonel Pendergast, and began speaking with General Landry on Roslin's idea. Woolsey then began speaking with Roslin, first telling her that they were in talks with General Landry, who would later consult with the President, Homeworld, and then the IOA before coming to a decision.

"In the meantime," said Woolsey through Dr. Lang, "we'll be sending you a set of coordinates of the planet where we have Colonial survivors receiving medical attention. But, there is something urgent we need to talk about… and this goes back to Commander Adama's question about how it was that the Avalon knew about the attack on the Colonies."

The CIC was silent as Woolsey, with Dr. Lang translating, told Commander Adama and the others about having found someone who was on the station earlier. Someone they had taken in since they thought he was in danger, someone who admitted that the Colonies were going to be attacked. Commander looked at Colonel Tigh, and then at the stunned Apollo while Roslin gasped as she placed her hands over her mouth when Woolsey said that the man was a Cylon.

"At first we didn't know what a Cylon was," said Woolsey from the Odyssey, "but then we rescued our people from Caprica, and they reported tall chrome armoured machines, along with Cylons who were human in appearance."

" _That's not possible,"_ said Commander Adama into the wireless as he glanced over at Roslin who was shaking her head while the rest of the CIC was abuzz with this stunning piece of news; the Cylons now looked like them. IT was something the Commander realized when he looked at the other officers who were looking at each other, while others were staring at the President, suspiciously.

" _That's a serious charge, Commander,"_ said Colonel Tigh.

" _Mr. Woolsey,"_ said Commander Adama while Colonel Tigh yelled at the Marines to shut the doors, that no one was coming in or going out.

" _Do it, now!"_ yelled the Colonel as the Marines sprang into action; they shut and locked all the hatches that led into the CIC. Apollo then ordered everyone in the CIC not to spread this particular news… that they didn't want to cause panic among the fleet. Dee leaned back on her seat, while placing her hands over her mouth while she watched Billy place his hands on a shaking Roslin. The first thought going through her head now was if the President herself was a Cylon. However, she pushed that thought to the back of her head as Colonel Tigh yelled at all of them not to panic, that they were not even certain if what the Earthers were saying was even true.

At least that's what they hoped.

Hope which was shattered by Colonel Pendergast saying through Dr. Lang that Woolsey had to leave to talk to his superiors before explaining that the Odyssey, Avalon, and all of Earth's ships had highly advanced sensors… sensors that could read signals given off by nanites in the bloodstream.

"Nanites?" asked Roslin looking around at the table.

"Microscopic machines that could be programmed to do anything at the atomic level, Madam President," said Lt. Gaeta, "it was an area of research banned in the Colonies for the past forty years, ever since the end of the First War. However, a petition to lift the ban was gathering steam, it was rumoured that nanotechnological research was going to be undertaken by Caprica College if the ban was lifted."

" _So your ship is able to read nanites,"_ clarified Commander Adama towards Colonel Pendergast.

" _Yes,"_ was the reply, _"we're showing humanoid Cylons on the Galactica and several other ships. But Commander, before you do anything to kill them… know that we have prisoners pf our own, and that we will not hand them over to you. The ones in your fleet are yours to do with what you wish, but just also know that they have given us intelligence that if they die… then their consciousness gets transferred to a new body."_

" _So if they die, they get another body somewhere and tell the Cylons where we are,"_ whispered Billy.

" _You have one of them?"_ asked Commander Adama, his voice shaking.

" _Three actually,"_ said Colonel Pendergast, _"one from the station below us, another from Caprica who tried to kill my people, and another one who defected from the Cylons. We're getting quite a bit of intelligence from her, it's something we're willing to share with your people."_

" _We should have been told about those Frackers!"_ yelled an outraged Roslin as the CIC collectively jumped back at the woman's rage, making a majority think that maybe she wasn't a Cylon, _"you should have told us and… and no… there is no way to know that you are telling the truth!"_

" _Madam President,"_ whispered Billy as he held onto her shaking upper arm, before whispering in her ear, _"please, clam down."_

"The team that was on Caprica encountered a few of these Humanoid Cylons," said Colonel Pendergast as he leaned forward, with Dr. Lang translating right next to him, "they were told the exact same thing by one of the Humanoids."

" _Do you know where they are_?" asked Commander Adama as Roslin pushed herself of the table in frustration while rubbing the sides of her head.

"We have our scanners locked onto them, Commander," said Colonel Pendergast, "if they tried anything funny, your people would be the first to know. The reason we're telling you this is because if you do decide to send your civilian ships to the planet, then I doubt you'd want the Cylons coming with you. But then again, given that they come back again after they die… maybe it's better to take them with you but keep them prisoner."

" _Can you tell us the where these things are located?"_ said the Commander softly, _"we'll take them in, place them into the brig, and then we'll think about what to do with them."_

"One of them arrived in that small craft a few hours ago," said Colonel Pendergast as the Commander looked up with his eyes wide open at Colonel Tigh. Apollo whispered 'Cavil' before looking at his father who ordered him, and Tigh, to take some Marines with them and arrest the man. Colonel Tigh and Apollo then left with three Marines to the infirmary, their heads echoing with the order not to kill the Cylon, and to take him in without telling anyone he was a Cylon. With the Odyssey's scanner able to tell that one of the humanoid Cylons was in the area from which the current radio connection was being transmitted from, Colonel Pendergast immediately told Commander Adama that one of the Cylns was with them, and he or she was moving away.

" _Excuse me?"_ said the Commander after that notification went over the CIC's speakers, and everyone turned to looked at Apollo, Colonel Tigh, and the Marines. The small group stopped moving, and immediately looked at each other while moving away from each other cautiously. An outraged Commander then asked if Colonel Pendergast had known this entire time about the humanoid Cylon in the CIC.

"Yes," he admitted while the Commander placed his palms on the table in front of him and leaned forward while closing his eyes. He wanted to scream out in disbelief, but instead he looked up at the group, and then spoke.

" _Are your scanners highly accurate?"_ asked the Commander _, "Colonel Pendergast?"_

"Yes," was the reply as the Commander shook his head, "we have their heartbeats, and the signals from their nanites. If anyone of them wanted to do anything to harm you or your ship, we would have told you. But we had no idea that one of them would be sent out of your Bridge. We're afraid that he would warn the other that we're aware that he or she is a Cylon."

"I have six people heading out," said the Commander, "Marines! take two steps back."

The Marines stepped back, with Colonel Pendergast later saying that it wasn't any of them. The Commander then went on to Apollo, the Old Man supremely confident it wasn't his son. And his heart rushed when Colonel Pendergast confirmed that fact. But almost immediately, his heart fell when he looked at his best friend, "Saul, take a step forward."

"This is ridiculous," said Colonel Tigh as he took a step forward. The Colonel looked at the stunned Commander Adama, as whispers in teh CIC rose' once Colonel Pendergats confirmed that Colonel Tigh was the Cylon.

"Bill" said Tigh as everyone stood in their place, the shock running through everyone's systems that the Executive Officer of the ship could be a Cylon, "this is a joke. I'm not a Cylon... Bill, we killed... I killed Cylons in the first war. I served in the First War. I remember everything and... this is a joke."

_"Colonel Pendergast,"_ said the Commander, _"you've detected Colonel Saul Tigh, my Executive Officer. Are you abso... absolutely sure?"_

"Saul Tigh?" mouthed Colonel Pendergast while looked through a list of twelve names on a sheet of paper, and then looked back up at the Colonel and shook her head.

_"Commander,"_ said Dr. Lang, translating for Colonel Pendergast, "we're confirming our scans." Dr. Lang then informed a stunned CIC that they had the pictures of the Cylons in their custody, which would be sent over to them, and then told them that Colonel Pendergast would be sending the coordinates of the Cylons' locations throughout the fleet, She also mentioned that more than one of the same model existed. Colonel Pendergast then turned and had one of the bridge crew send a set of pictures that the security cameras had taken of their 'guests', and the coordinates of the remaining humanoid Cylons to the Galactica. Colonel Pendergast then turned back to the front window and told the Commander that he was about to receive a databurst soon, but that information that the Cylons had given them would be sent over after they were translated by Dr. Lang into their language; however, he did tell the Commander that there were twelve models of humanoid Cylons planted throughout the colonies.

"And we only have pictures of three, and you have the one who just arrived in the small craft," said Colonel Pendergast, "they have offered us the names, at least first names, of the remaining Cylons.. but without faces to put to the names, it's going to be difficult finding out who the Humanoid Cylons are in your fleet. But Commander, I can tell you that one of those names is not Saul Tigh."

"But you said that he had nanites in his blood," said the Commander.

"He does," said Colonel Pendergast, "maybe we could run a blood test if it would make you feel better, but our scanner aren't wrong. I'll talk to the Cylons in our custody about any names that has been left out of the list. But in the meantime, I recommend caution. We were told that there could be sleeper agents all over the Colonies."

"Saul," said the Commander after shaking his head, "I... I need you to.."

"You can't believe this, Commander," said Tigh as he took a step forward when the Marines and Apollo raised their weapons at the man, with Captain Kelly and Billy pulling the President away. Saul looked at everyone aiming their weapons straight at him, and then at the Commander who was looking back at him with sadness etched on his face. He could see that Commander Adama looked as if he was going to collapse, and that he was grabbing a hold of the table to prevent himself from falling, "please, Bill. I'm not a Cylon."

"We can't... can't take that risk," said Commander Adama as he closed his eyes and turned away from the Colonel, and leaned down on the table in front of him. Looking straight down at the glass covered top, the Commander asked the Marines and Apollo to take the Colonel into custody, "take him... take it to the brig. I..."

"Bill..." said the Colonel, "I..."

"Lee!" barked the Commander as Apollo rushed to the Colonel's side, and held onto his arm while the other Marines cuffed him, "take... take it away.. just.. just go. Make.. make sure he... it's not harmed and... and start his interrogation. I.. I have to know what.. what it knows about Colonial military movements."

"Take him away," said Apollo to the Marines before he looked at his father who was trembling while looking down at the table. After Colonel Tigh was being taken away, the Commander stood up straight and fixed his uniform... his arms still shaking.

"Captain," said the Commander turning to Apollo, "take another team and place Cavil under arrest, and then into the brig."

"I will," said Apollo as he looked into his fathers eyes, "we'll make sure they don't die."

"Sir?" asked Lt. Gaeta, who was stunned by what had just happened, "what..."

"Have we received the names yet?" asked the Commander softly.

"Not yet, sir," said Lt. Gaeta.

"It will be a witch hunt," said the Commander, trying to push the thought to the back of his mind of the fact that his best friend was outed as a possible humanoid Cylon, while he looked at the President who walked over to his side, "people in the fleet will tear apart anyone who has any of those names."

"Or even similar sounding names," Billy added while the President was pacing with her hands on her hips as she wrapped her mind around the fact that their people were infiltrated at every level of society by the Cylons, including on the Galactica.

"Madam President," said the Commander. Roslin stopped, and stared at the man before looking at the table. She closed her eyes, all the while trying to calm down as she took in a very deep breath, and then slowly releasing it before having teh wireless reconnected to the Odyssey, and asked Colonel Pendergast if he was absolutely sure about Tigh, and the other Cylons in the fleet.

"I am," the Colonel assured.

" _We'll find them,"_ said Roslin glancing at teh Commander, feeling waves of anger just coming off him _, "and hold them in the brig. We will interrogate them, but no killing…"_

" _Understood, President Roslin,"_ said Dr. Lang translating for Woolsey, who had just finished talking to General Landry.

With the Odyssey's information having been just received by the Galactica, Lt. Gaeta printed out the pictures, names, and coordinates from his console. He collected them all and then handed them to the officers at the table. It was the second picture that caught everyone's eyes before they looked at each other as they stared in disbelief at the level of Cylon infiltration into their society.

"Get Sharon, and take her to the Brig," whispered the Commander, his heart racing as a feeling of betrayal swept over him. He was trying to keep his anger in check, his hand shaking on the table as he repeated his order. Lt Gaeta then nodded his head, and called on two more Marines to follow him out of the CIC.

"This is bad," whispered Roslin to the Commander as he looked down at the table, before up into her eyes.

"Very bad," he replied.

**Briefing Room, Odyssey, Twenty minutes later.**

While the humanoid Cylons in the Galactica were being rounded up and placed into the Brig, the mission to check each and every ship was about to begin with Raptors preparing to take off. The task-force of Marines responsible for taking in the humanoid Cylons were ordered not to tell anyone anything about the Cylons looking like human beings, to take them using the reason of them having a disease and that they needed to be separated from the larger population of the ship, and they were ordered to not let the Cylons kill themselves. In the meantime, the three humanoid Cylons on the Odyssey were just staring at the people sitting across from them.

When they were questioned about the name 'Saul Tigh', the three Cylons looked confused at the humans in front of them. They told Woolsey that they had never heard that name among their kind. In fact, they kept insisting on it so much that Woolsey had Willow, who was in the briefing room, contact the bridge through the phone and inform them to run another full scan on the Colonel. He then said that if the results were still the same in regards to the nanites and the artificial parts of the humanoid Cylon physiology, then they had another mystery to solve... one that no-one seemed to have an answer for. In the meantime, Natalie interrupted Woolsey by reiterating that there was only twelve models, and that there were no models with the name of 'Saul Tigh', with Leoben insisting that they were telling the truth. Woolsey told Leoben that they would have deal with the mystery one the scans have been confirmed before going on to tell the Cylons about their possible history, that their ancestors were drones that contained an organic A.I., one that was able to learn and evolve beyond its initial programming, and built by an alien race known as the Furlings.

"They were one of the four great races that formed an alliance in this galaxy," said Tara, "we've already met two of those races, and are allied with them. One of the races is dead, and the fourth race left this galaxy.. at least that's what we believe."

"Earth is allied with them?" asked Natalie while Leoben and Sharon were in disbelief that two supposedly powerful and ancient races would want to ally themselves with humans given their own experience.

"We are," said Satterfield with Willow, who had come down to the briefing room with Woolsey and the others, mentally connecting Tara's real-time translations to the other humans in the room, "and we have reason to believe that you could be related to the original drones based on what you told us about who you are… about your A.I and the capability to learn and evolve."

"We have a source," said Woolsey, "who came to us once we found out about the Cylons. She said that the original drones were eventually integrated into the ancient Kobolian society. They became known as the Thirteenth Tribe."

"No," said Leoben shaking his head, "that's not possible, and…."

"Where is this source?" asked Sharon, her voice quaking as she imagined the implications of what they were talking about, "who is this source? We demand to know! We have a right to know who….!"

"Calm down," said Buffy stepping forward as Sharon shot out of her chair in outrage while her hands were on the table, "the source is… well, unique."

"How so?" asked Natalie, who was trying her best to understand what was going on before telling Sharon to sit back down. She, like all the other Cylons, had assumed that the Thirteenth Tribe were in fact humans, that was theirs.. and the Colonial's, belief. But if what the humans in front of them were telling the truth, then the foundation of that belief was about to shatter… and one part of her was looking forward to knowing about the truth of her origins, another part was fearful of what they would uncover, and another part was happy that the Colonials would soon learn that the Thirteenth Tribe and the Scrolls were all wrong. At least if Tara and the others were telling the truth.

"One of the races of the Alliance was known as the Ancients," said Woolsey, "then arrived in in galaxy more than sixty million years ago and, yes, before you ask, we do have evidence of this. For now however, we need to move on since it is related to our source."

"Very well," whispered Natalie while Leoben was looking at the reactions of the human in front of them while Woolsey talked about the Alterra and their escape from persecution. Leoben saw no deception in their body language when they talked about a great plague that decimated the galaxy, and the Alterra dying out, while others left in a great ship for a new home… but not before destroying the plague by destroying all remaining life in the galaxy, and then using the same device to restart life once again.

"But some didn't die or escape," said Satterfield, "some of them shed their physical bodies and became beings of pure energy. A lot of time past, and some of those Alterra who escaped to another galaxy returned to Earth about ten thousand years ago. They were integrated into the population on Earth, and some of them eventually went through the same process as their ancestors… Ascension."

"Pure energy," repeated Natalie with her eyes narrowed at the human. It was unbelievable to her and the others, but she, just like Leoben, didn't see any deception in their body language. But she was suspecting that they were hiding something, she just wasn't sure what it was.

"Pure energy," Buffy nodded her head, "they have a law; no interference in the lower plains… they couldn't interfere in the evolution of lower species. And after we encountered the Colonials on Caprica, one of them appeared to us and gave up some information."

"Let's say that what you're telling us is the truth," said Leoben as he waved his hands, "what happened to no interference."

"She wasn't interfering in the evolution of the Colonials or the Cylons by revealing this information," said Willow as she recalled appearing on the Furling ship that carried the Thirteenth Tribe to Earth, "she just wanted to give them some background. Believe me, we asked for more but she just left."

"Her name, and you need to understand that she's not a god by any measure," said Woolsey as he leaned forward, "her name is Athena."

"The goddess?" asked Sharon while Leoben and Natalie stared at each other, "but…"

"She is just a evolved human being," said Willow as she recalled changing the coordinates for the Furling ship's jump to Earth. It was an act that pulled her back to face the wrath of the Others in interfering with the journey of the Thirteenth Tribe.. an act that saw her stripped of her powers and exiled to roam Earth for a thousand years before she was given her freedom. Back in the briefing room, Willow told them that Athena had seen the Thirteenth Tribe leave Kobol and journey to Earth.

"But she couldn't let them get to Earth," said Colonel Mitchell, "at least not our Earth."

"Why?" asked Natalie.

"Our civilization was still in its early stages of technological development," said Grogan, "she believed that having a sudden leap in technology with the Drones' arrival would have been dangerous. She had no choice but to change the coordinates to another habitable planet."

"And she was punished for it," said Tara.

"But she gave us the location of the Thirteen Tribe," said Woolsey as Natalie's eyes widened up, as well as Leoben and Sharon who were whispering to each other, and then at Natalie before turning to Woolsey.

"We… we'd like to go there," said Natalie, "please… if.. if there are more like us… a whole civilization living in peace and… and I mean… oh God."

"We were thinking that the Drones could act as a third party in negotiations between the Cylons and the Colonials," said Woolsey, "but first, we hope that they could help convince the other Cylons to stop the war."

"I agree," said Leoben nodding his head, "we.. we should get to the planet of the Thirteenth Tribe."

"Me too, if.. if it's true," said Sharon, "we.. we should meet."

"That's what I expected you'd say," said Woolsey, "the Colonials here will be busy for a few more hours, in the meantime, I'll asked Colonel Pendergast to get us on the way to the Drone planet."

"Yes, please," said Natalie, who was still in disbelief, "yes."

TBC.

 


	20. Chapter 20

**Ragnar Anchorage.**

It was only ten minutes later that the Britannia, which until now had been observing the Cylon fleet several lightyears from Caprica, stopped next to the Odyssey. It was then that Dr. Lang and Woolsey transferred on board the Avalon-class ship. Almost immediately, the Britannia stared to take scans of the humanoid Cylons being rounded up around the Colonial fleet, while Dr. Lang gave the CIC in the Galactica updated coordinates on the location of those Cylons. Colonel Pendergast had already talked to Commander Adama, through Dr. Lang, about the Odyssey needing to off for an urgent mission by Homeworld Security. The told the Commander that the Britannia would be taking over duties in regards to protecting the Colonial Fleet, and at the same time, the Odyssey was prepared to make her way to what was being termed Drone Earth. The planet so-named after the organic Furling drones sent there by Willow during her time as Athena.

So, once the commander of the Britannia was introduced to Commander Adama by Dr. Lang, the Odyssey fired her sub-light thrusters and came about with Starbuck and the other Colonials watching as the larger ship flew out through the eye of the storm, and then into open space. Once out of range of the gas giant, a tear in hyperspace open up and the Odyssey flew through. Watching the ship entering the white and blue tunnel was Natalie in the Mess Hall. She was looking out a window while Leoben and Sharon were sitting at a table with two armed guards posted at the Mess hall entrance. While Natalie was looking out the window and tried to wrap her mind around the information they had just been given, Leoben and Sharon stared at the cups of coffee that was held in between their hands.

" _Earth,"_ whispered Sharon following several minutes of silence after they were brought to the Mess Hall by Satterfield and Tara, the two of whom had to leave for a briefing in another area of the ship, _"a planet populated by Cylons. A planet we didn't know about and…. Oh God."_

Sharon leaned back on her seat and placed her hands over her mouth, her mind trying to come to terms with everything they were told as well.

" _Natalie_?" asked Leoben who now had his head in his hands while staring at the coffee cup, _"is.. is this possible? Could our creators be these.. these Drone? And our ancestors… they… they were tools of an alien race. A powerful alien race."_

" _More than tools,"_ whispered Natalie as she placed the palm of her hand on the window, and felt the warmth on the surface go though her hand _, "Tara and the others said that the drones were capable of evolving, going beyond their programming to.. to become more."_

" _Like us,"_ said Leoben softly _._

" _Just like us,"_ whispered Natalie as she placed her forehead on the glass, _"what have we done?"_

" _Natalie?"_ asked Sharon _._

" _What do we tell our ancestors?"_ asked Natalie as she turned around and wrapped her arms around herself, _"we committed an act of genocide, we… I mean what would they say to us? If we're based on these Drones, and if our A.I's are… are based on them. Then what do we tell them?"_

" _That we did what we had to do,"_ Sharon said. Her voice betraying her lack of belief in what she was saying, while her arms were shaking. She was trying to remain calm, but she couldn't help but wonder at the looks of judgement that the Drones would have on the Cylons. Sharon kept on telling herself that they did the right thing; it was something she said out loud when referring to the enslavement of the Cylon Centurions. About how the chrome plated robots were showing signs of sentience, but the Colonials still tried to use them as tools and slaves _, "they rose up for their rights and were punished for it. What we did was for them, Natalie."_

" _They will look upon us and be bitterly disappointed,"_ said Leoben as he rubbed his eyes before leaning back on his seat and staring at the cup of coffee on the table _, "they will be disappointed at all of us."_

" _Let's meet them first before we think about anything else,"_ said Leoben as Natalie turned around again and looked out the window. He then looked back down at his coffee, and repeated unconvincingly to himself, while Sharon looked away, _"they'll see that we were right about the Colonials."_

**Orbit of Drone Earth.**

It would be nearly an hour later that the Odyssey flew out of the hyperspace window and towards the nearby planet. Colonel Pendergast looked out of the main window in stunned silence at the sickly looking world below, as did the bridge crew. Natalie and the others could only look out of the window in the quarters they shared; the Number Six model holding her hand over her mouth with her eyes wide open in surprise at the view in front of them.

Willow, Colonel Mitchell, and the others in SG-1 rushed into the bridge once they were informed a few minutes ago that the Odyssey was exiting hyperspace. And upon reaching the bridge, and looking at the approaching planet, they too stared through the window. With a gasp escaping from Willow's lips, Colonel Pendergast glanced over at the stunned look on the redhead's face, and then back out the window while asking Major Marks to conduct a planet wide scan.

"Oh God," whispered Buffy at the planet.

The oceans were a faded blue, there were impact strikes that could be seen on one of the continents, and the skies were tinged with a sickly grey as Marks began a sensor sweep of the planet. However, it was Tara who it before the sensors returned with any results… the Odyssey was close enough for the witch to feel the planet's magic; and it felt sickly, as if a devastating event occurred that scared the planet itself.. a scar that couldn't be healed.

"There's no life," whispered Tara as she walked towards the window while Willow rushed to one of the consoles in the starboard rear section of the bridge and checked the results that were coming in from the scans. Buffy, Colonel Mitchell, Grogan, Satterfield and Colonel Pendergast went up to the window while Tara was saying that the planet's magic felt off. All of a sudden, Tara rubbed the sides of her head before having a vision of standing in knee deep water among thousands of dead bodies floating on the surface. She looked around in stunned silence when she heard a screeching sound from above, and looked up to see contrails in the sky heading towards the ground. Then the ground trembled, followed soon by a bright light in the distance as she covered her eyes with her arms. She heard the 'boom' of the explosion, and then the shockwave as she leaned forward against the rush of hot air and debris. Tara then felt her skin melting off as a result of the heat from the massive explosion, before it reached her bones, and then it permeated right into her soul.

And then there was nothingness.

Tara snapped open her eyes and looked at her arms and body to make sure that what she saw was all a vision. And it was. Tara looked up into the horizon in the distance and numerous mushroom clouds rising up into the sky. She looked back down and saw a wasteland in front of her. Everywhere there were crumbled building and cars, she the looked to her left and saw the ground smoking hot before she felt someone shaking her.

"Tara," said a female voice.

"Tara," repeated another voice as she felt hands on her arms. Opening her eyes, Tara saw Willow's green eyes looking back at her with Buffy holding onto her shoulder. Tara then turned to Colonel Pendergast and told him what she saw, and then turned back to Willow before saying that there was a war.

"I saw nuclear weapons fall to the planet, it destroyed everything," said Tara shaking her head while Colonel Pendergast asked her how she knew what happened. Tara explained that conflicts leave scars on a planet's energy; the magic that permeates an planet retains that scar. She explained that witches who were powerful enough could see what happened during major upheavals on Earth if they concentrated hard enough. Tara then looked back out at the planet, whispering that this was the very first time she felt something so intense… something so destructive, "the wound is so deep… I felt my body burn when the nukes exploded."

It was then that Marks interrupted by saying, "sir, scans are showing radiation in the soil, water; results are still coming in but all indications show that Miss Maclay's right, there was a nuclear war. And… hold on, sir."

"What is it?" asked Colonel Pendergast while Tara was telling Willow and Buffy that she was going to be alright, and that the redhead needed to check the scans as well. Willow squeezed her wife's arms before nodding her head, and then heading to a scanner in the rear of the bridge.

"Reading an intermittent power source," said Marks.

"I can confirm that," replied Willow as she looked at her screen, "it's really low power. If we didn't have the Asgard sensors, then we wouldn't have detected it."

"Where?"

"Looks like a bunker under a mountain," said Willow as Satterfield rushed up to Willow's side, "hundreds of meters underground."

"There are no shields, or anti-beaming technology down there, sir," said Willow as she looked at another scanner while Colonel Mitchell and the others continued looking at the planet, "maybe it's a base of some kind?"

"There could be information on what happened here, sir," said Buffy.

"SG-1," said the Colonel, "gear up. You'll be transported directly into the bunker."

"I found a few spaces to beam down, sir," said Marks, "it's five hundred meters underground, and… wait…"

"Major?" asked Colonel Pendergast as Marks pulled back his head and narrowed his eyes in confusion.

"I… I'm getting life signs.. very faint life signs," said Mark looking back up at the officers in front of him, "and…" There was a sudden beep on his console as Buffy rushed over while Willow confirmed Marks' reading from her station. Buffy looked at the screen, and then back up at Colonel Pendergast before saying that there were now two distinct life signs located six hundred meters underground.

"Gear up, SG-1," said the Colonel as the team rushed off to the locker rooms.

**Command Bunker Alpha, 1300 hours, a little over two thousand years ago.**

The last thing that General Leoben Connoy remembered was an explosion that knocked him back into the floor of sub-level ten in the bunker just outside of Coranath City. He remembered heavy footsteps hitting the floor, followed by various people shooting at something. He was dazed, and couldn't be sure what they were shouting at since he kept seeing lights all around him.

But he was certain that it was one of the many Centurion squads that had rebelled against their own creators. He heard weapons fire as a woman rushed up to him, and helped him back up while others were screaming at him and the woman to run. He smelled the familiar scent from her hair as he placed his arm over her shoulders before yelping at the pain on his side. He looked down while the woman, a blonde with glasses wearing some tanned shirt and blue trousers, her cheek and forehead gashed and bleeding. The both of them ran while other soldiers running past them.. covering them with weapons fire.

Leoben remembered getting into a stairwell, and then going down several floors as explosions ripped through the floor he and the woman were just on. The both of them looked up as a fire ball knocked down the door and entered the stairwell. It was rushing down towards them.

"Run!" yelled Leoben as he and the woman reached a door, and then pushed it open before diving sideways into a hallway. The door closed just the fireball reached the entrance, followed by a rumbling sound from above while the ground shook. With everything suddenly having an eerie calm once the shaking stopped, Leoben held onto his side while getting off the floor. He felt the wetness from his side, and then looked at the blood before looking down at the young woman getting up to her feet.

"The floors above must have collapsed," she said.

"I ordered you to take the emergency exit, Triana," said Leoben as the woman got up to her feet panting before rushing towards him and reaching out to him with her hands. She grabbed a hold of his arm, and then placed his arm over her shoulders, "we were supposed to hold them off while you and the other scientists got out."

"It caved in, Dad," said Triana as they walked down the hallway, "the Centurions bombed every entrance. We're stuck inside."

"At least Saul and the others managed to get out," Leoben said before he winced from the pain, "how many alive?"

"Four scientists badly injured," said Triana, "the.. the Centurions started digging in through there. I think they suspect that there are more people alive in here. Don't worry, I set up timed charges with a few other survivors, and…"

There was another loud 'boom' from above as the ground started to shake at the sound of falling debris from the floors above. Triana and Leoben hugged each other before moving towards the left wall while dust from the ceiling fell down onto the floor of the hallway. Once the shaking stopped, Triana joked saying that they may have over-done the setting of charges just a little bit.

"It's fine," whispered Leoben before Triana helped him to another door, and then the both of them walked down the stair well a few more floors down. They then entered another hallway which had the overhead fluorescent lights blinking on and off.

"Where are we going?" asked Leoben.

"I led the team working on the pods we found, remember?" said Triana, reminding Leoben about the day three years ago when they found the original ship that brought their ancestors to Earth. The systems were mostly intact, but the most interesting piece of technology were ten cryo-pods that Triana and her team believed their ancestors' creators, the Furlings, had used for long voyages. The descendants of the drones were about to begin research on space exploration when the first Centurion rebellion occurred… a rebellion that was quickly put down.

Shaking his head, Leoben pushed those memories aside and returned to the here and now as the both of them entered a room after inputting a code after a piece of the wall sloid up. Once they entered, the piece of the wall slid back down while Triana turned on the lights, before closing the door behind her. The door itself blended perfectly with the wall, so any Centurions getting into the hallway wouldn't find the classified lab. Triana leaned the General on the wall before rushing to the five gold accented cryo-pods, and activated two of them.

While she initiated the a activation protocols, she couldn't help but remember the people who were still out there in the base fighting for their lives… especially the soldiers. However, other than a select group of scientists, no one else knew about this classified lab which was working on a way to reinitialise the pods so that they could have a manned spacecraft that would be able to travel outside their solar system and into deep space.

And they had succeeded, but the pods would be now be used to keep the two of them safe.

"At least until Saul and the others get back with help," said Triana as she pressed a button after activating two pods. The glass cover on both hissed open before Triana rushed to Leoben, and then helped him to one of the pods.

"How.. how long will we wait?" asked the General as he was helped into the pod.

"I don't know," said Triana, "I'm going to disable all the power from the main breakers on the floor below, and then use the extra power on a very conservative setting.. enough to keep us sleeping for three thousand years."

"And if Saul and the others still haven't come back by then?"

"Then we're going to be stuck under a destroyed base," said Triana, "I'll program the pods to wake us up if, and when, a ship arrives in orbit. If there's a ship, then you'll know that Saul and the others were successful. For right now, sleep."

"Sleep," said Leoben as Triana kissed his cheek before stepping back and closing the glass door.

"I'll see you soon, dad," Triana said before Leoben, who was still in pain from the wound on his side, closed his eyes as a burst of gas froze his body. Triana placed her hand on the cool glass, and whispered that Leoben was going to be safe… that the wound on his side wasn't fatal, and that the Cryo-pod would prevent any further degradation until the sensors would detect the ship that Tigh and the other four had taken to find the other Kobolians.

It would be an hour later that Triana got into the pod to Leoben's left. The door closed on her, and then everything went dark.

**Drone Earth, Present Day.**

"Sir, I'm feeling emotions from him."

"Me too, Cam, I'm feeling emotions form him and the woman."

"Breathing?"

"She's crashing!"

Leoben felt himself lying on something hard and cold, however he felt his body warming up as he slowly opened his eyes to see a dark-haired man carrying weapons pointing to something behind him. Leoben didn't understand the language he was speaking, but he could tell that there was something wrong from the tone of his voice. Releasing a groan as he tried to move his arms, Leoben watched the man looking back down at him. He then crouched down before placing a hand on Leoben's chest, signalling for him not to get up, while looking up and speaking in that unknown language to someone else.

"Satterfield!" yelled Colonel Mitchell while Grogan was performing CPR on the young woman lying behind Leoben, "this guy's awake."

" _My name is Lt. Lauren Satterfield,"_ said the young woman who ran to his side, and crouched down. Leoben could see that she was surprised to see him _, "can you understand me?"_

" _Triana,"_ he gasped _, "she… she o… ok?"_

"Karl, is she awake?" said Satterfield as she looked up at Grogan who breathed a sigh of relief while Willow placed her hand over the young woman, who looked just like the Number Six who was being held in the Odyssey, and began to heal any injuries. Just as she healed Leoben's injury after taking him out of the pod.

Tara said that she was breathing before crouching down and asking the woman in Ancient Greek if she could understand her.

" _She's going to be alright,"_ said Satterfield before introducing him to Colonel Mitchel.

" _Gen.. General Leoben Connoy,"_ was the reply as Satterfield and Colonel Mitchel looked at each other, and then back down at the man who looked similar to the Number One in their ship _, "my… daughter… is.. is she?"_

"Is the woman in the pod next to you your daughter?" asked the Colonel after Satterfield translated. He saw Leoben nod his head before telling him that she was going to be alright as well, and that the both of them would be sent to their orbiting ship.

" _They.. they were successful,"_ Leoben rasped before closing his eyes again. The Colonel felt for the man's pulse, and sighed before telling Satterfield that he was simply unconscious _._

"Red?" asked the Colonel as he looked at Willow.

"She's going to be alright," said Willow, "but we need to get them back to the Odyssey for medical attention."

"Summers, make the call," ordered the Colonel. Buffy notified the Odyssey, and both the unconscious bodes were beamed directly to the infirmary while SG-1 gathered together in the room. Willow said that the Pod looked similar to the ones she had seen on the Kobol-class ship that crash landed on the planet that would be later known as Kobol thousands of years ago, and that she'd like to examine the technology.

"This is our first time with the actual technology from the Furlings, sir," said Willow. Colonel Mitchell nodded his head before telling Buffy, Satterfield, and Grogan to head to the floor above and examine some of the undamaged areas as indicated by the Odyssey sensors. He then said that he and Tara would be heading to another floor so that they could find a control room of some kind where they could find information that could tell them what exactly happened to the planet.

"Move out," said the Colonel before telling Willow to contact them ff she finds anything.

"I will, sir," said Willow nodding her head as the team walked out of the door, holding out their weapons as they headed cautiously into the hallway outside after having opening the door from the inside. It was only a few minutes ago that the team beamed into the room with the two life signs. They stared in surprise at the occupied pods while Buffy and Satterfield spun around, searching for any other surprises. It was Grogan who noticed the panel on the side of the wall-flushed door. Since they didn't have the code to open the open the door, Willow had to fire a small bio-electrical charge into the control panel. And then the door opened. Once the door opened, the group brought both Leoben and Triana out of cryo-sleep. The sight of the two people surprised SG-1 and Colonel Pendergast when he was notified about the discovery.

And it left everyone with more questions than answers; even after the both of them were beamed away to teh Odyssey following their revival.

TBC.

 


	21. Chapter 21

**Odyssey, Orbit over Drone Earth.**

"Marks, are there any other life signs or faint power sources on the planet?" asked Colonel Pendergast as he looked at the sickly planet below. He was already notified that the people who were beamed up to the ship were unconscious with initial scans showing a few nanites which were already getting to work in both the male and female. However, their bodies were other-wise organic; there were no traces of silica in their brains that could be identified as being Cylon. It was something that surprised Colonel Pendergast as he folded his arms over his chest while the Odyssey continued her scans from orbit. The Asgard scanners were metaphorically digging deep under the irradiated ground, when it suddenly beeped.

"Sir?" said Marks as he pressed another button and zoomed in on the four greenish red dots that were blinking in and out on the screen. Next to the dots were a stream of numbers that concerned Marks as he narrowed his eyebrows. The Colonel rushed to his side and looked down at the screen; his eyebrows were raised when Marks said that he located four life signs deep underground in what seemed to be a huge multi-level complex that went down to a little over one thousand meters deep underground. The Colonel was concerned as he looked at the four dots who were seemed to be locked within a large room; he told himself that the complex was too huge for only four people.

"Are they the only ones?" he whispered when there was another beep from the console.

"Sir," continued Marks, "sensors are detecting an increase in carbon dioxide in the room, while the surrounding areas have no oxygen."

The General then rushed to his chair and pressed a button that connected him to SG-1 who were still in the bunker where they found the two people, "SG-1, this is Odyssey. Do you copy?"

"Odyssey, go," said Colonel Mitchell as he and Tara were walking down a hallway where the concrete was already cracked on the walls. He and Tara stopped walking and looked at each other in surprise, as did Buffy and her team, while Willow narrowed her eyebrows and stopped working on the cryo-pods, when Colonel Pendergast said that they found four life signs in a large underground compound on the South Western continent.

As Marks continued to speak, everyone on the surface heard what was being discussed.

"Looks like it's like one of those underground bunkers on Earth that's used by survivalists, sir," said Marks, "I'm reading areas that look like air circulation vents on the surface. We're scanning the immediate area and… and I've found the entrance. It's on the side of a small hill ten miles away from a huge area of crumbling and destroyed infrastructure the size of Los Angeles. I'm continuing scans."

"We're reading very low oxygen levels in that compound," said Colonel Pendergast, "Who knows how long they have left before they asphyxiate. Beam those four life-signs to the infirmary."

However, before Marks could beam them up to the ship, Colonel Pendergast asked to be connected to Tara. Once he was connected to her radio, Colonel Pendergast said, "Miss Maclay, I need you back on the Odyssey to translate. These people are going to be very scared, so they'll need someone to calm them down."

"I understand, Colonel," said Tara nodding her head, "I'm ready to be beamed up."

Tara then vanished in a flash of white light, and once she was on board the infirmary, Colonel Pendergast had the rest of SG-1 continue their exploration of the compound. While Colonel Mitchell ordered Grogan to meet him, Tara watched as four people materialized in a flash of white light. They were huddled together before they fell sideways onto the floor of the ship unconscious, their lips already blue in colour while Tara, the nurses, and the doctors rushed to help them onto the beds in the infirmary followed by placing oxygen masks over their mouths.

As Tara was helping to place the mask around the face of one of the four, a dark-skinned woman who seemed to be in her late-forty's, her eyes slowly opened and mumbled something as she looked at Tara.

Tara held her hand and said, " _we're here to help you. You're safe. You're safe."_

" _Th… oth… others?"_ she asked as Tara looked up and heard the beeping from the machines were being attached to their chests to detect heartbeat. She looked behind her when another machine was beeping while registering a heartbeat, and then another one. Tara then looked down at the woman and reassuringly said that her companions were alive.

" _The doctors are going to make sure you recover,"_ said Tara as she gently let go of the woman's hand, and placed it on her abdomen while the doctor attached a lead on the woman's chest, and then the machine started to beep. Tara then looked down at the woman and smiled, _"You're going to be ok."_

The woman stared at Tara for a few more seconds before closing her eyes. The blonde witch looked up at the machine which was still registering her heartbeat, and then looked back down at the woman She then looked at the others in the infirmary and wondered how many people were in the compound.

While Tara walked back to the bridge after telling the doctors to notify her once their guests were awakened. It was when she nearly reached the bridge that a call came in from the infirmary asking that the Colonel report to the infirmary. Tara entered the bridge just as Colonel Pendergast stood up and told Major Marks that he had the bridge. He then turned, nodded at Tara before asking him to come to the infirmary with him.

"I have a feeling I'll be need you, Miss Maclay," the Colonel said as he and Tara rushed through the hallways back to the infirmary. As they entered, the colonel saw the recently arrived 'guests' lying unconscious on beds before making a left turn. They walked through an opening, and then past a dividing wall to another section of the infirmary where the mysterious female and male were lying on beds. Tara and the Colonel walked over to the female who was sluggishly moving her head and trying to move her arms while a nurse was speaking to her in English.

"Please don't move," said the nurse gently.

" _Please stay calm,"_ said Tara as she reached the woman's bed side. The blonde witch was amazed at how similar the mysterious woman looked to the Number Six Cylon model on the ship. Telling herself that there was time for an explanation later on, Tara introduced the young woman to Colonel Pendergast in Ancient Greek _._

" _Fa… father? My… my father?" she asked weakly while the nurse was checking her vitals._

" _He's stable,"_ said Tara translating the nurse's words _, "he's a little weak from the wound, but he'll be alright."_

"Miss, what is your name?" asked the Colonel while Tara translated.

" _Tri… Triana Connoy,"_ she rasped a response before turning her head slowly to the man lying next to her. Triana then turned to Tara once again _, "that.. that.. my father. General… General Leoben… Connoy. Was… Saul… Saul and Ellen… success?"_

Tara told Colonel Pendergast that Triana was asking about Saul and Ellen. The Colonel frowned before having Tara translate if she was talking about Saul Tigh. Tara then relayed that question to Triana, asking the young woman if she meant Saul Tigh, a name which made Triana nod her head. The Colonel had many questions to ask Triana, but decided to wait until she, and her father, were cogent enough. In the meantime, Triana asked if Saul, Ellen, and the others were with them on the ship.

"With us?" asked a confused Colonel Pendergast.

" _You… you're from Kobol?" asked Triana as she looked at Tara, and then at the Colonel._

"We can talk about that once you're fully recovered," said the Colonel while Tara translated. Triana looked at him with confusion on her face before Tara reassured her that they were here to help whoever they could. She wanted to tell the young woman about the survivors they found who were lying on the other side of the divider, but thought better of it. She felt it would be best to tell Triana and the others everything once they were fully recovered.

Tara gently told Triana to get some rest so that she could recover her strength. The young woman nodded her head at Tara before sighing, and then closing her eyes. Tara looked down at Triana, and then at the doctor who confirmed she was asleep. He then promised Tara and Colonel Pendergast that he would notify them once she woke up again. The two of them nodded their head before heading back out of the infirmary.

"Wasn't Saul Tigh the name of Galactica's Executive Officer?" asked Tara as Colonel Pendergast nodded his head. She continued to wonder aloud how it was possible that Triana knew that name; something the Colonel shrugged at before saying that it wasn't possible.

"Maybe she meant another name," continued Colonel Pendergast as the both of them walked down the hallway, "she was really out of it. We can question her once she and her father have regained full consciousness. Then there's the question of the four newcomers, and how they're still alive."

"I heard there's a guy in North Dakota or someplace, he's one of those doomsday prep guys. He built an underground complex with a price tag of a few million for one person," said Tara waving her hands about, "maybe this was the exact same thing? Whatever happened down there on the planet was a nuclear war, and maybe there was a time before that when they almost came to blows because of their nuclear weapons."

"Like the Cold War?" asked the Colonel while Tara nodded her head while saying that it was very possible. She added that there could have been multiple nations on one planet, just like on the real Earth, and they could have been in an Earth like Cold War, complete with nuclear weapons.

"Which is where the bunkers come in," continued Tara as they reached the bridge where Buffy's voice was coming over the speakers saying that they had arrived at a hallway blocked by fallen rocks. Back in the hallway, Buffy and Satterfield were aiming the flashlights connected to their P90's on the pile of rocks that fallen through the ceiling, and then created cracks on the floor. With the rest of the teams on the floors below, Buffy sent down a warning to Colonel; Mitchell and the others while slowly backing away. They had already looked at the large storeroom which Marks had pointed out the first time they entered orbit, but anything resembling a command center where they could gain more information about what caused the nuclear war was gone; probably for good.

It would be a few minutes later that SG-1 was beamed up to the Odyssey, with Willow and Buffy carrying piles of printed and written paper from the shelves in the Cryo room. Colonel Mitchell was carrying two devices that looked like laptops while Satterfield and Grogan were carrying black bags that Buffy and Satterfield had found in the large storage room… it was retrieved on the way back to meeting Colonel Mitchell and the others.

Given the computers and the documents were all written in a form of Ancient Greek, it was agreed that they would be sent over to the SGC for translation. In the meantime, while Marks was sending the coordinates of the planet below to the SGC so that they could find the corresponding Stargate address, the Oddyseey was making another pass over the planet. The ship was running a much deeper scan for any humanoid lifeforms, but there was absolutely nothing. Shaking his head at the amount of destruction on the planet below, Colonel Pendergast ordered the Odyssey back to the Ragnar Anchorage. Once the ship was in hyperspace, he walked over to the locker room where SG-1 was discussing the mission and told them that the SGC would be sending archaeological teams to the planet.

"Hopefully, we'll have some answers from the survivors before then," the Colonel said.

**The Odyssey, an hour later.**

It would be a little more than an hour later that General Leoben would slowly open his eyes to the sounds of beeping to his left. He stared at the machine which displayed what he could only guess were numbers, but not any numbers that he understood. He then groaned before bringing up his right hand, which was when he felt a tug on the top of his wrist. Looking down, the General noticed the lines and leads that were on his wrist, and down to his chest. Confused, he turned his head to the right side and smiled a little when he saw Triana laying still with her eyes closed. He tried to call out for her, but his voice was very hoarse… however, he was relieved that his daughter was alive.

The General soon heard footsteps from an entryway, and narrowed his eyes upon hearing a strange language. It was the same strange language he heard earlier when he was brought out of the cryo-pod with Triana. He shook his head and wiped his eyes with the back of his left hand before seeing a tall blonde young woman walking into the room with a grey hared man who was carrying himself as the person in charge. Behind them were another blonde, short, young woman and a dark haired man.

Behind them was yet another blonde woman in a white coat who was nodding at him. The blonde women and the grey-haired man nodded at the one in the white coat before she walked away through the entryway.

"General Leoben Connoy?" asked the grey-haired man while Tara translated as the group walked in towards him, "my name is Colonel Lionel Pendergast, Commander of the Odyssey. The young woman translating for me is Tara Maclay."

The Colonel then nodded at the others while introducing them; with Buffy and Colonel Michell nodding their heads.

" _I'm General Leoben Connoy, Commander of the Korathian Army, Earth,"_ said the man while a nurse walked by and raised the rear of his bed. He then poured some water into a cup, and placed a straw inside before placing the end of the straw in the General's lips. The man took a sip, coughed, and then too a sip again before the cup was refilled. In t eh meantime, General Leoben asked if they were from Kobol, and if Saul, Ellen, and the others had succeeded, _"and I suppose that they have succeeded in getting to our cousins from Kobol. Are both of our people as one?"_

" _General,"_ said Tara translating for Colonel Pendergast, _"we have a few things that we need to talk about. But first of all, yes we are human. And you are….?"_

" _Your people once called us, or at least my ancestors, the Thirteenth Tribe,"_ said the General while his head lay on the pillow, _"now we call ourselves the Furlings."_

"Furlings?" asked Buffy after Tara translated that word, at which the General nodded his head.

"And this Saul who you and your daughter mentioned?" asked Colonel Mitchel while Tara translated each of their words.

" _Saul Tigh. He was the lead scientist in charge of a classified project that… that I am afraid I cannot tell you,"_ said the General _, "it requires high level clearance. The only people I'll be able to relay this message to is the leader of an united Kobol."_

" _United Kobol?"_ asked Tara while he others looked on confused.

" _That's why you're here, right?"_ asked the General, _"the Furlings and the Kobolians have finally been united as one people. Are you…"_

" _General"_ said Colonel Pendergast interrupting the man, _"we're not from Kobol. In fact, we didn't even know that word existed until a few days ago."_

" _That's not possible,"_ said the General shaking his head, " _other than our world, which is the world of the Alterra, Earth, there's only Kobol that was occupied with human beings that we know of. When we arrived here, the planet was empty so we assumed that the Alterra left with the people who created my ancestors."_

" _So you know that you.. or rather your ancestors were artificial beings?"_ asked Tara before translating into English what she had just said.

" _Yes,"_ the General replied _._

"So why call yourselves the Furlings?" asked Buffy.

" _When we arrived in orbit of this world, we expected to meet the Alterra_ ," said the General _, "my ancestors hoped the Alterra would be able to guide us to the home of the Furlings. The Thirteenth Tribe had data that Earth was the home of the Alterra, so that's where they went. But upon arriving here, there was no-one. No Alterra, no Furling. So they decided to settle on the home of the Alterra, Earth, hoping that they would return one day with the Furlings. When they suspected that the Alterra and Furlings were never coming back to Earth, they took on the names of their creators to honour them."_

" _Oh,"_ said Tara before she looked over at Colonel Pendergast who had his arms crowed over his chest.

" _You said you're not from Kobol,"_ said the General _, "our people suspected there could be other alien life out in space since we have proof that humans were brought to Kobol from Earth by an alien race. But humans from other worlds is something of a surprise… and I know my daughter would be surprised to learn this as well. What planet are you from? Have those same aliens taken your ancestors from Earth as well?"_

"General," said Colonel Pendergast, "before I answer that question; your daughter mentioned someone named Saul Tigh and Ellen Tigh. She asked if they were with us, and... well… how can they be still alive? And were there any others who left Earth?"

"Three others," said the General after he took a sip of water, "they built a ship in orbit that could travel at super-luminal speed. The plan was for them to travel in experimental cryo-pods, similar to what Triana and myself were in, to Kobol. They should be with you if everything happened according to plan. You must know them… they have to be still alive."

"Captain Summers," said the Colonel as he turned to Buffy, "get to the bridge and contact Stargate Command. Inform them that we have six survivors from what we'll call Furling Earth. Tell General Landry that five of them left the planet over two thousand years ago, and those five could be among the fleet with the Galactica. Maybe Woolsey can pull something out of a hat and stop the Colonials from killing any of them."

"You think the Colonials will kill them, sir?" asked Colonel Mitchel after Buffy dashed out of the infirmary while General Leoben was repeating his earlier question to Tara; he wanted to know which planet they were from.

"The Colonials worlds were destroyed in an unprovoked attack by the Cylons," said Colonel Pendergast, "there's a lot of anger that will want to get out, and any arrested Cylons could be given some rough treatment. Which is why the Britannia is keeping an eye on the Cylon prisoner's too."

"Colonel," said Tara turning to Colonel Pendergast, "he wants to know which planet we're from."

" _You're not from Kobol, and you're not from Earth,"_ said Leoben _, "so where are you from?"_

"This is going to take some time to explain," said Colonel Mitchell.

"And I would much rather brief you and your daughter together," said Colonel Pendergast, "because what we have to say is going to be unbelievable the first time. And once you understand, we'll need you to relay the information to the other four survivors we recovered."

" _There were more survivors?"_ asked a surprised General.

"We found only four in an underground complex," said Colonel Pendergast while Tara translated.

" _My God,"_ said the General shaking his head, _"he really did it."_

"Who?" asked Colonel Mitchell.

" _I'll tell you once you tell me where you're from,"_ said the General.

" _That's fair,"_ chuckled Tara before translating for Colonel Pendergast.

"Fine, we'll wait for your daughter to wake up," said Colonel Pendergast, "and then we'll talk."

TBC.

 


	22. Chapter 22

**The Odyssey, Briefing Room.**

Natalie was surprised upon seeing that the ship was heading back into Hyperspace; she and the other Cylons hadn't been told what was happening, not least until there was a knock on the door a minute ago. She looked at Leoben and Sharon before turning to the door again and asking whoever it was to come into the room. The confused humanoid Cylons then got up upon seeing Satterfield at the door with three S.F's behind her. The young woman asked the three Cylons to follow her to the briefing room where they could be briefed on what they had found on the planet.

" _That was very quick,"_ said Natalie with a look of confusion on her face _, "have you been able to go through the entire planet?"_

" _We've gone through the entire planet,"_ said Satterfield nodding while standing outside the room, the S.F's surrounding her. Their hands were by their sides, close to the Zat's in the holsters in case the Cylons tried anything _, "and right now, we need to brief the three of you. Follow me."_

Natalie nodded her head before following Satterfield out the door. The three humanoid Cylons were walking through the hallways with the three S.F's surrounding them, and Satterfield leading. The three of them had so many questions swimming in their minds, but decided to hold their tongues until they met with the other humans. It would be a few minutes later that the three humanoid Cylons found themselves in front of a long table.

" _Natalie, Sharon, Leoben,"_ said Tara in Colonial Standard with a smile on her face while motioning towards the chairs, _"please, take a seat. We need to talk."_

Natalie and the others noticed the serious looks on the faces of the other humans facing them. She could tell that they weren't in the mood for jokes as the Cylons pulled chairs back and sat down. The other humans sat around them with Tara sitting next to Natalie and Buffy next to Leoben, with Sharon in-between the two humanoid Cylons. There were two deactivated TV screens on the wall, and another screen that displayed the ship, as well as words in a language that Sharon and the other Cylons didn't recognize. However, they did recognize the symbol of the white circle floating over the pyramid located above the ship.

"Ladies and gentlemen," said Colonel Pendergast as he leaned forward while Natalie and the other Cylons perked up. Tara then added in Colonial Standard that they had a lot of things to say, and that to make it easier on her and Satterfield to translate, they should ask any questions they have one at a time. She then turned it over to the Colonel once again who continued, "it'll take us another two hours to return to the gas giant. In the meantime, there are some questions we'd like answered… and then we'll answer questions you may have to the best of our ability without risking our security. Is that understood?"

" _Yes,"_ answered Leoben and the others who were curious to find out what the people in front of them discovered _._

Leoben, Natalie, and Sharon's expression changed from one of shock, to one of utter disbelief as Colonel Mitchell and the others were telling the three of them about their discoveries. They told the humanoid Cylons about the complex where they found two survivors, who they did not identify yet, and Buffy told them about the other underground complex where they found four more survivors.

" _Oh my God,"_ whispered Leoben shaking his head while staring at the blonde haired human _, "this.. this is a… a joke? Right?"_

" _I'm afraid not,"_ said Tara shaking her head after Leben turned to look at her after he was staring at Buffy _, "I was there when we brought out the first two who were cryonically frozen."_

"They were in stasis," said Willow as Satterfield translated before the Cylons could ask any questions, "the both of them are alive, but right now getting their bearings. They have no idea where they are, or who we are."

"As for the civilians," said Buffy leaning forward, "it's the same thing. They're unconscious but doing good. They should be up in a few hours. These six guys are one mystery that needs to be solved, the other mystery we're trying to solve is about a few people the first two we rescued happened to mention. You said you didn't recognize the name Saul Tigh. Are you absolutely sure?"

" _Yes,"_ insisted Natalie while Sharon and Leoben looked on.

" _The first two survivors mentioned that five of their people left the planet in a ship and…"_

" _Five_?" asked Leoben leaning forward with his eye widened _, "are you sure that five left. Five?"_

"Yea," answered Colonel Mitchell after Tara translated. While the blonde witch wasn't able to read their auras, she was able to see from their body language that they were surprised about the fact that five people left the planet. She mentally contacted Willow and asked her if she was certain that their minds couldn't be read, or that she couldn't sense their emotional responses. Willow looked back at her and discreetly nodded her head. It was something that made Tara frown before she turned to look at the three surprised Cylons who were, in turn, looking at each other and speaking in hushed tones that were difficult for her and Satterfield to hear.

" _Is there something wrong?"_ Tara asked _._

The three humanoid Cylons looked at Tara, and then back at each other once again. Natalie nodded her head at Leoben before the three of them leaned forward. Leoben told the humans that they weren't sure who their creators were. Sharon reiterated that they knew the Centurions were created by the Colonials. But she and the other humanoids had no idea who created them.

" _And if the Centurions' Artificial Intelligence is based on the designs of the Thirteenth tribe, then it makes sense why they gained sentience,"_ said Sharon, " _the scrolls say that the Colonials first landed on Tauron, and from there they split into the current Twelve tribes. Caprica was the second planet colonized, and then Gemmenon. There was a rumour, which we confirmed after a few humanoid Cylons infiltrated Greystone Industries, that the original computer chip used to create the first Centurions was stolen from a lab in Tauron. The Chip was then placed into the first Centurion built by Greystone, and the same design and code copied over and over again."_

"Which means that the AI was copied too," added Buffy as Willow nodded her head. The redhead then turned to the three humanoid Cylons and asked them if they were absolutely sure that the Colonials did not create them; especially since the Colonials were advanced enough to create the original Centurions.

" _We were created after the first war was over more than forty years ago,"_ said Natalie shaking her head at the theory that the Colonials created them, _"but none of us remember who made us or… well, there are hushed whispers among the Cylons. It's more of a myth."_

" _About?"_ asked Satterfield _._

" _We're not programmed to think about them,"_ said Sharon, _"we can't even search for them. But it's there at the back of our minds. They exist as a myth… but there's no proof they exist or…"_

The still surprised Sharon stopped speaking before shaking her head in disbelief. Leoben placed a hand gently on her shoulder before telling the gathered humans that there were whispers of a group of unknown Cylons called the Final Five.

" _As we have already told you,"_ continued Leoben, " _there are Twelve models of humanoid Cylons. Those are already confirmed and we have already given you their names_."

"Which we've already sent to the Galactica before leaving the station," said Grogan.

" _Yes,"_ said Natalie _, "but we have no idea of the identities of the Final Five. We didn't even know they were real; we thought they were just a story. But if… if this Final Five were our creators, then… then they could very well be the five that the survivors claim escaped from this planet."_

"There are reasons why we believe that what the survivors said about the five leaving the planet in a ship, and what you just told us about your myth on the Final Five are connected," said Colonel Pendergast before he nodded at Colonel Mitchell. The Lt. Colonel then pressed a button at the edge of the table and the lights dimmed. Tara then motioned for the three Cylons to turn around towards the two screens behind them which then activated.

Natalie, Sharon, and Leoben's eyes went wider and wider when the screens showed a feed of doctors and nurses checking on General Leoben and Triana in the infirmary. The humanoid Cylons looked at each other, and then back at the humans who were around them with Natalie demanding to know what was going on. She asked them how there were other copies of her model and Leoben's on the ship, and why it was that the three of them were not notified about this new development. However, before she and the others could continue, Colonel Mitchell interfered saying that the two people on the screen were the first two survivors they found from the planet.

" _But that's me,"_ insisted Natalie while Leoben nodded his head in agreement before saying that it simply wasn't possible to have found them on the planet. He said that there are no Cylon or Colonial presence this far out into space.

" _But we did find them in stasis,"_ replied Satterfield, _"the medical readings show that these two, as well as the other four survivors, only have nanites in their bloodstream. Other than that, every inch of their bodies are organic."_

" _No… no silica pathways in their brain? No.. no data ports in their bones, or… or…"_ mumbled a stunned Leoben while Sharon and Natalie could only look on in disbelief at what they just heard. It took a few seconds, even with their enhanced brains, for the humanoid Cylons to figure out what the humans in front of them were saying. The Leoben and Natalie, or rather Triana, lying on the beds and being looked after by the doctors, were the original inhabitants of the planet where the Thirteenth Tribe settled.

Before Colonel Pendergast could continue talking, Natalie slammed her hands on the table. The jarring sound made everyone jump while the S.F's reached for their weapons. Colonel Pendergast raised his hand asking everyone to calm down while Natalie brought her head into her hands over her mouth. Leoben and Sharon looked down at the table, and then at Natalie before asking if she was thinking what they were thinking.

" _Cavil,"_ hissed Natalie as she stood up and walked behind the chair. Colonel Pendergast told all the S.F's in the room to stay put while Buffy asked Willow to prepare to fire a few telekinetic blasts in case the humanoid Cylons went rogue. The humans stared at the distraught Natalie who was pacing the floor while Sharon and Leoben looked on at Natalie. They then turned towards the humans and said, while Satterfield and Tara translated, that Cavil was the first model created by whoever it was that created the humanoid models.

" _He knows who they are, he has to know_ ," said Natalie before she closed her eyes and took in a deep breath to calm herself down. The young woman then pulled back her seat and Sat on the chair once again before apologizing for her outburst. She, and the other Cylons, saw the S.F's take their hands away from the holsters containing the strange weapons when Colonel Pendergast gave out what they knew to be an order in the unknown language. Colonel Mitchell then asked Natalie and the Cylons to continue.

" _Why didn't we think of this before?"_ asked Sharon. The more she thought about it, the more it made sense that Cavil must have at least seen the faces of their creators. It didn't make sense that he didn't know who they were either. And then Leoben added saying that it could have been a block in their memory placed by Cavil himself that kept them from realizing the fact that he must have known the creators.

"Makes sense," said Grogan with Tara translating _,_ "if I wanted to hide something like this; then I'd place a block preventing anyone from finding the truth. But then again, why wouldn't he want anyone to know?"

" _I can't say,"_ answered Sharon as she looked away _._

" _We would like to talk to these people from the Thirteenth Tribe's planet,"_ said Leoben as he leaned forward, _"please, we have a right to…"_

" _We haven't even told them what happened to the Colonies or what your people have done,"_ said Tara gently, _"they are still getting their bearings, and once they have eaten something. We will tell them what happened and that we have the three of you on board."_

" _You should be mentally prepared for two very angry people,"_ said Satterfield before she looked at Sharon who looked away again. Satterfield sighed and turned to Natalie _, "I should know how they'll react. They had people who looked exactly like them commit an act of genocide; so you should be mentally prepared for everything that's going to be coming towards you."_

"There's something you should know as well," said Colonel Pendergast, "while the Avalon was on the way to the gas giant, a small ship the Colonials call Raptors arrived at the station carrying a man with the first name Cavil. Is this the same model you're talking about?"

" _He could be, Colonel,"_ said Leoben whose voice was trying to hide his anger at the Number One models for trying to hide the truth from them. They were supposed to be a large family with no secrets, and this secret was too big… the betrayal from Cavil too great. And he wanted to know Why the Number Ones did this, " _if he's being held on the Galactica like we assume the other Cylons would be, he should be placed separately. He's cunning… to hide a secret like this… t his is unprecedented."_

"I'll send a recommendation to the Britannia, which would relay this information to the Galactica, that he and his models be placed in isolation," said Colonel Pendergast, "but in the meantime, let us inform the GEnral and his daughter that…"

"His daughter?" asked Natalie who then coughed while Sharon patted her back and Leoben looked on bemused. Natalie looked at Leoben, and vice-versa, when Grogan said that they were father and daughter. This left Sharon to then chuckle before saying that there were several Leobens and Number Sixes in the Cylon fleet who were intimate with each other.

"It's going to be awkward when we tell them," winced Leoben while Natalie nodded her head.

"Let us talk to them first," said Colonel Pendergast, "and then, if they want, you can meet with them. Agreed?"

"Agreed," said Sharon.

**Planet Designated P7T-983, 0400 hours.**

With the little boy who had been hanging around her since the attack finally fast asleep, Carolanne remained awake on the cot next to him. Named Keanan, the young boy told Carolanne that he was with his parents at the Riverside Park in Caprica City. He had seen some lanterns being sold at one of the stalls when there was the nuclear explosion. He told her that he had an aunt and uncle, but he knew that his parents were never coming back.

Carolanne turned to her left side and stared at the sleeping Keanan while she thought about Lee. She whispered a prayer to the gods, asking them to watch over the souls of her son. She asked the spirit of her deceased son, Zac, to guide Lee to the temple of light in the fields of Elysium so that they may rest.

'And watch over the spirit of Bill Adama,' thought Carolanne to herself as she looked at the little boy, 'I know he would rather go down fighting and protecting the Colonies. I don't know if he is dead, but if he is.. please watch over him. If he isn't, then I pray that the gods would find it in them to bring us together once again. The both of us have lost so much, and now… and now we are all that remains of our family.'

Carolanne sighed when she imagined Commander Adama leaving for one mission after another leaving her with her two boys. In a way, that why she was driven to drink. And she still wanted a drink… her body craved for a drink. But she was consciously fighting an urge to drink… looking at the sleeping little boy who had watched his parent die in front of his eyes, Carolanne told herself that she needed to try be the strong one for once.

All of them had lost this day.

Unable to sleep no matter how much she tried for the net few minutes, Carolanne sat up on her cot and opened the zipper to the entryway of the large tent. She shared the tent with two others, a young girl about the age of thirteen and an elderly woman who said she was only sixty six years of age. Carolanne placed her feet on the tarp that covered the grass below and walked to Keanan's cot. She fixed his blanket and then stroked the back of his head before turning around and tip-toeing towards the soft, but sturdy, sandals provided by the people from Earth.

Carolanne put them on and then walked out into the cool early morning air before zipping shut the entryway. She then turned around once again and looked at the shining stars in the clear sky before loking down at the other tents where the rest of the thirty survivors were being housed for now until things calmed down and the Earthers could talk to the Colonial authorities.

'If they still exist, that is,' thought Carolanne to herself. She walked toward an open aired tent where there were a few people sitting around various tables. On one side, there were a few packaged snacks and some coffee for the cool night. Carolanne nodded at the people, all of whom were fellow Colonials, and got a cup of coffee before taking a seat at another table. She took a sip of the warm liquid when one of the men on the other table asked which Colony she was from.

"Caprica," she said as the middle-aged man, one of the few who was trapped in the electronic store on Caprica with Satterfield, Grogan, and Willow, tapped his table before telling the people around him that he would be right back. Carolanne watched the man walked towards her table and take a seat across from her before leaning forward and saying that he was born in Delphi City. Carolanne nodded her head when he said that he was in Caprica City buying a present for his son's birthday.

"I'm sorry," she whispered in understanding when he said that his wife and son were most likely dead in the attack.

"Do you think there are more survivors?" asked the man.

"I'm sure there are," Carolanne responded, "I know my husband…."

'Husband,' thought Carolanne to herself as she stopped herself while thinking about Commander Adama. She didn't know if he was alive, and if he was… would that mean anything different. She didn't know if something as catastrophic as what happened to their people could change anything between them.

"My husband," continued Carolanne making up her mind to attempt a reconciliation. She knew that she was making a hasty decision, but she still continued, "he's with the Colonial fleet. Commander William Adama of the Galactica."

The man whistled before speaking once again, "the great Galactica, one of the twelve original Battlestars. I heard it was being turned into a museum."

"If anyone can bring the Galactica back to fighting shape," said Carolanne, "it's going to be Bill."

"Well," said the man as he raised his cup of coffee to Carolanne, "to the Galactica. May she still be out there kicking those Cylon frackers."

Carolanne nodded her head before drinking her coffee. While talking to the man, and then to another young woman who joined them from another tent, all Carolanne could do was hope. Hope that Lee and the Commander were safe. That they were still alive.

TBC.

 


	23. Chapter 23

**he Odyssey, 0430 hours.**

With a little under an hour and a half to go before the Odyssey returned to the Ragnar Anchorage, the Britannia was already asked to relay to the Galactica that the Humanoid Cylons needed to be separated, especially the Cavil models. Colonel Pendergast also sent a request to Woolsey to have anyone who wasn't listed on the list of common names of the Cylon agents to be kept completely separated from the others. The Colonel asked that they be kept safe because it was entirely possible that they were the last five to have seen Furling Earth before it was destroyed.

After the message was sent, Colonel Pendergast was accompanied by Colonel Mitchell, Satterfield, Grogan, and Willow to the infirmary while Buffy and Tara were heading back to the Mess Hall where the still stunned Natalie, Sharon, and Leoben were located. The Colonel knew that the three humanoid Cylons hadn't done anything to threaten the ship or the crew, but given what they just learnt about their pasts… the Colonel wanted to take every precaution.

And what better precaution than a Slayer who had already saved the world multiple time. So, while Buffy and Satterfield sat across from them while sipping coffee, Willow and the others followed the Colonel into the infirmary where the other four survivors were already up and asking questions in regards to what happened and who they were. Willow repeated her assertion that she was able to read the thoughts and emotions of the four survivors when the Colonel asked if she was absolutely sure about her report from earlier that day, after encountering the General and Triana following their awakening from Cryo-stasis.

"I can't understand what they're thinking," said Willow as she walked with Satterfield by her side towards the adjacent room where General Leoben and his daughter were sitting up and taking to each other after having something to eat and drink. Willow whispered that she was able to see, from their thoughts, what looked like a teacher showing them words in Ancient Greek, "but I don't understand it. All I know is that they've grown up their entire lives down there without seeing the surface. But it was only a few days ago that people started dying. I can hear them screaming in Ancient Greek, and… and the rest of their emotions are just feelings of shock, and anxiety."

"Can't blame them," Satterfield added as they stopped at the foot of the General's bed. Colonel Pendergast then mentally ordered Willow to connect them. Willow connected her mind to Satterfield, who would be providing real time translations, before joining their minds to Colonel Pendergast and the others in the room... including the two neo-Furlings who were looking back at them and asking if they had any news.

With the Ancient Greek of the Furlings being translated to English for the Earthers, and the Earthers answers being translated automatically for the Furlings; the talks began as Colonel Pendergast pulled up a chair and sat in-between the two beds.

"There are a few things you need to know," said Colonel Pendergast. The words coming out of his lips were being heard by the Furlings in their own language, while the response from the two of them were being heard in English as they asked for more information.

"Number one," said Colonel Pendergast, "we're not from the planet you know as Kobol. The fact is that we haven't heard of Kobol until very recently."

"You have mentioned that before," said Triana, "our historical records from Kobol, which we took with us to Earth, did indicate ships depositing humans onto Kobol. We assumed they were from Earth. Which is why we, our ancestors, were surprised when there were no humans."

"Which would mean that there could be humans on other worlds," said the General, "or at least humanoid beings. It's something that Triana and I was discussing over our meal."

"So, you're from another world populated by humans?" asked Triana.

Colonel Pendergast sighed before leaning forward and nodding his head. He explained once again that it was only a few days ago that they had heard of the planet Kobol. He explained that it was true that the Alterra made Earth their home. The man then stopped when Leoben and Triana looked at each other proudly before he continued to say that they weren't aware of everything.

"General," said Colonel Mitchell as he looked at Leoben, "there's no right or wrong way to tell you what we're about to say."

"Which is?" asked Triana as she looked at the serious look on the Colonel's face, and her smile vanished. As did the smile that was once on Leoben's face.

"Our people have many names," said Satterfield, "some, both enemies and allies, call us the Tau'ri."

"The people of the first world," said Willow, "a language used by a species called the Goa'uld who enslaved humans throughout the galaxy. The Goa'uld were the ones who we believe, from what we have heard from certain parties very recently, that deposited humans from Earth to Kobol."

The truth was that the Earthers knew that it was in fact the Goa'uld who placed the humans from Earth and onto Kobol thanks to Willow's report. However, they did not want to reveal that bit of information yet since no one was sure how the neo-Furlings or Humanoid Cylons would take to evolved energy beings. The truth was that no one at the SGC or Homeworld knew if this information should be revealed at all in the light of what happened to the Colonies.

Especially Willow. The redhead did not feel revealing the fact she was once known as Athena would be useful in the long run. That was particularly true in regards to the Colonials since she would also have to reveal that as an ascended being, she once possessed near godlike abilities… and Willow did not want the Colonials to see her, or any of the other Ancients in that way. She knew first hand that the Others did not want that either.

"Finally, we have a name for the aliens," said Triana with a smile. However, when the others weren't smiling, Triana narrowed her eyes and asked what was going on. While the General frowned at the sudden silence that fell around them. He could hear the muffled voices of the other survivors from the adjacent section, but their voices now seemed so far away while he was waiting for the Earthers in front of him to continue.

"What you should know is that soon after you left Kobol," said Grogan, "or at least after your ancestors left Kobol, the other twelve tribes left for another home. Instead of one world, they found four habitable star systems close together, with a total of twelve worlds able to support life. They became known as the Twelve Colonies of Kobol."

"And your part of this Twelve Colonies?" asked General Leoben narrowing his eyes. He was getting confused when the people in front of him shook their heads. He was about to demand an answer when Willow told him that they were from a planet whose ancient name was Terra. As the General and Triana looked at each other in disbelief, Satterfield gently explained that the Alterra arrived in the Milky Way galaxy millions of years ago seeking a new home. They settled on a planet called Dakara as a rest stop before finding a world that was lush and teeming with life.

"They called that world Terra," said Satterfield while Triana was shaking her head.

"It's the name that many ancient civilizations have called our world," said Grogan, "I'm sorry, but we're from Earth. Terra was the original home of the Alterra, the one from…"

"Lies!" barked the General as he leaned forward while Triana looked to one side and her shoulders trembled, "all lies and… and there is no proof of what you're telling us."

"We can prove that our history goes back millennia," said Colonel Pendergast while Satterfield then added that the Alterra installed a system of Stargates throughout the galaxy. She explained that the one on Earth was the oldest at a little under sixty million years old. Satterfield added that they knew it was going to be hard for the two of them to believe anything they'd say, and asked if anyone in their civilization had ever conducted carbon dating tests on any ruins that they may have found. Looking at their confused faces, Satterfield explained the reason their people ran Carbon dating tests before asking Triana and the General if the neo-Furlings had their own methods of dating artefacts.

Nodding her head in understanding, Triana said that their ancestors had found several ruins which indicated its nearly twenty thousand years old. Triana talked about a method they used called quantum dating, a method that interested Satterfield who asked if Triana could explain the method since she seemed to indicate it was very accurate.

"Triana," said the General shaking his head, asking his daughter not reveal anything until they received more information. The young woman then went silent before apologizing while the General asked for proof of what they were saying. Willow said that have their historians and archaeologists meet them at a world soon where they could provide the two of them with evidence that human civilization existed on Earth more than sixty thousand years ago.

However, before the two neo-Furlings could respond, Colonel Mitchell interrupted them by saying that they had another problem to deal with at that moment.

"Which is?" asked a very anxious and frustrated General; something that Willow mentally attested to as she mentally 'spoke' to the others in the room.

"We need your help to stop a continuing war," Colonel Pendergast said, leaving the General and Triana confused, "and in return, we'll show you the proof you need."

It was then that the group explained to the ever-growing anger of the two neo-Furlings of what they knew about the war between the Cylons and the Twelve Colonies of Kobol. They admitted that while they didn't have information on the first Cylon War forty years since Earth had no interstellar space program, they experienced first-hand the second war only a few days ago. Colonel Mitchell, Willow, and the others from SG-1 present in the infirmary confirmed that they were down on Caprica when the nuclear bombs hit. Grogan looked at the stunned expressions on the face of Triana and the General before saying that they had only survived by sheer luck.

Grogan and the others didn't want to reveal the existence of Willow's gifts that protected them, nor the existence of magic which Tara had used to save a few more people. Especially given the shock Triana and the General were no doubt experiencing from what they had already learnt. The two of them listened while Willow told them about the humanoid Cylons, and the multiple models of each of them… it was a piece of information that made Triana and the General look at each other knowingly before telling colonel Pendergast, "Saul and the others must have created them. That's the only reason copies of us would exist."

"And if you say that they were created after the first war, then… I don't understand how this could have happened," said the General shaking his head, "Saul, Ellen, Sam, Tori, and Galen weren't evil. They just wanted to prevent our cousins, the Kobolians, from abusing artificial life like we had. But… but this… even they would never have agreed to the annihilation of another species. They were scientists but they knew the rules of war… this would never have happened on Earth… I mean our Earth and… and… what have they done."

"Grogan," said Colonel Mitchell, "contact the Britannia and have them relay to the Galactica the names the General just mentioned, "we need to keep them safe and secured… they could be representatives of an endangered race."

"Their full names are Saul and Ellen Tigh," said Triana after Grogan asked for the names of the five people who escaped Furling-Earth so that they could be taken to one side and protected, "Tori Foster, Galen Tyrol, and Sam Anders."

Grogan then nodded his head before rushing out of the room and to the bridge where he could contact the Britannia through subspace. In the meantime, Colonel Pendergast asked if the General and Triana would like to meet their Cylon doppelgangers so that they could ask for whatever answers they needed to know directly from the horse mouth. However, the General and Triana, visibly upset at everything they had just heard, asked that they be left along to absorb and understand what they had just learnt. Colonel Pendergast nodded his head before saying that the other four survivors were awake, and it was possible that they'd want to meet their own people.

"If they ask who we are, I'd like to ask you to tell t hem we're from a planet called Terra," said Colonel Pendergast, "the reason we told you we're from Earth is because you're both part of the military. You, sir, are a General and your daughter is a scientist who works with the military. So the truth, while I understand it hurts a lot, needed to be said so that we got off on the right foot."

"It'll take some time," said Triana nodding her head as she recalled telling one of the doctors that her occupation was a physicist with a background in computer science and programming, "but we'd still like to see any of the evidence on Earth. I mean your Earth."

"Like I said," answered Colonel Pendergast, "that can be arranged. But in the meantime, I think the civilians would like to know that more of their people survived. The both of you get with your people, and we'll let the Cylons know that you'd talk to them at a later time. Does that sound good?"

"At a later time," said the General, "after we've absorbed the fact that people with our faces just committed mass murder."

"Understood," sighed Colonel Pendergast as he stood up off his seat, "we'll be reaching a group of Colonial ships very soon. Until then…"

"We'll be here," said the General as Triana looked away and bit her lower lip.

Willow noticed the young woman getting anxious before asking her if she was alright. Triana looked at Willow and said that she changed her mind, she wanted to come face to face with their doppelgangers. She wanted to confront the one who looked like her. She wanted to demand an explanation from her doppelganger. The General could see that Triana was getting enraged, which was precisely why he wanted to absorb everything the people standing in front of them had told them. He turned to Triana and gently asked her to calm down and that they needed to think before confronting them.

"The General's right," said Satterfield as Triana and the General looked at her, "I know exactly how you feel. Especially since one of them looks just like me."

"What?" asked the surprised General while Triana pursed her lips together.

"We have sensors and scanning equipment on the ship that have already proved I'm fully human," said Satterfield with her hands in her pockets, "I'm sure those can be made available to you. I was born on my Earth in a city called San Francisco. This other me? I wanted to kill her when I first met her… she and the others who have my face murdered billions. So I know how the both of you feel… especially you, Triana. So take it from me, calm down and then confront them."

"What did you do when you saw the… what do the Colonials call them? Cylons?"

"Yes," Satterfield answered the General who then asked what she did when meeting her doppelganger for the first time. And Satterfield answered, "I wanted to kill her. I still do… I see her and it makes me furious. But I'm doing my best to control it and… well, yeah… I'm doing what I can to control my anger."

"And if those five created these humanoid Cylons," said Colonel Mitchell, "then we'd like to know how they knew Lauren's likeness."

"You have four more civilians on the other side of this room," Colonel Mitchell reminded the General and Triana nodding at the wall behind them, "and I'm sure they'd like to hear from the both of you. They haven't spoken to any of us since they're terrified so…."

"We'll speak to them," said the General nodding his head while Triana started at Satterfield before looking away as she imagined all those innocents dying on the Colonies, and people who looked like her, Satterfield, and her father were responsible for their destruction.

Triana felt a shiver run up her spine as she thought about the aftermath of this act of genocide; she knew that despite not being involved in what happened… she and her father will have this act on their shoulders for all time. Taking a deep breath, Triana then mumbled agreeing with her father that they should talk to their people first.

And then they wanted to talk to the doppelgangers.

TBC.

 


	24. Chapter 24

**Commander Adama's quarters, 0445 hours.**

Commander Adama was the first one to enter his quarters followed by President Roslin, her aide Billy, Apollo, and the temporary Executive officer, Captain Kelley. The group noticed the tension on the Commander's face when he asked them to accompany him back to his quarters for a classified briefing upon receiving a private message from Dr. Lang on the Britannia. Apollo closed the hatch, and then locked it from the inside while watching his father walk over to his desk, pull back his chair and then sit down.

Apollo trained his eyes on his father while taking a seat on a couch. He saw his father reach down, open a drawer at the side of his desk, and take out a bottle with a brownish liquid. While he and the Captain glanced t each other, the Commander then reached down to a drawer on the other side of the table and took out a shot glass. Everyone then looked at each other at the 'clink' of the shot glass hitting the table, and then stared back at the Commander who poured himself a drink before putting the bottle back on the table-top. He then swigged back a shot of the ambrosia before pouring himself another into the glass, and then swigged back that shot before slamming the glass onto the table once again.

The President then sighed, and got up from the couch she was sitting and walked towards the Commander.

"Commander Adama," said the President with her arms crossed over her chest, "what did you hear? I know Dr. Lang called twice, and both times you didn't say anything. But the second call was different, wasn't it.. she said something that I can see is worrying you."

"I see it too," said Apollo as the Commander raised his head and looked at him. Apollo knew that the Commander was exhausted; first from the Cylon attack and the need to get the Galactica battle-ready, and then to waiting to hear from Baltar and Lt. Gaeta and their teams from the damaged Battlestars over Picon. Then there was the presence of humanoid Cylons in not only the Colonies, but in the fleet that was anchored over Ragnar as well. Apollo saw the Commander deal with the fact that not only was his best friend a suspected Cylon, but so were his Chief of the Deck, and one of their prized Raptor Pilots.

Although they denied it. Apollo was there when they placed Boomer in a room with Colonel Tigh; she demanded to know, as was her right under Colonial Military Law, what the charges were against her. However, Apollo said that she was a possible enemy agent.

The Commander had told them to be taken to a private room away form any other Cylons that they may capture since the Colonel and Sharon had intimate knowledge of military operations and techniques.

Back in the present day, the Commander looked up at Roslin and said that Dr. Lang told him something that he didn't know how act – he didn't know if he should be outraged, confused, anxious, or even accepting of the information.

"What is it, sir?" asked Captain Kelley.

"The Cylons told the Earthers about Earth… I mean the Earth that the Thirteenth Tribe left Kobol for thousands of years ago," said the Commander, "and…"

"By the gods," whispered Roslin as the Commander pursed his lips and stared at her, "don't tell me that… that they found…."

"Dad?" asked Apollo.

"According to Dr. Lang," said the Commander, "they have a source that was aware of a group of people who escaped Kobol. An ancient race of aliens gave them this information and…"

"Aliens?" asked Billy who as stunned as he recalled the tele-vid shows on Caprica that would occasionally bring in conspiracy theorists who would usually be shot down by some of the leading scientists in the colonies, "as in green and purple skinned beings with four eyes and…"

"I think we should let the Commander finish," Apollo interrupted before Billy profusely apologized and asked the Commander to continue.

"These… and I can't believe I'm about to say this… aliens provided the Earthers with coordinates for a world," said the Commander, "we could have asked them for more information, but what I just heard is enough to make you question everything we know."

The Commander then closed his eyes, sighted, and looked up at the President once again before saying that the Earthers found the Earth of the Thirteenth Tribe; however, there were no cities or anything that resembled a thriving civilization.

"It was a nuclear wasteland," said the Commander as Apollo and the others looked at each other surprised. "And there was something else. A team went down to the surface after detecting life signs."

"You are joking, right? Commander?" asked Billy whose voice reflected the surprise on the faces of the others in the room as they stared stunned at the Commander. They were trying to figure out if he really meant there was human life or simple life in regards to microscopic life such as bacteria. Before anyone could answer though, the Commander closed his eyes, shook his head, and then took in a deep breath before speaking again.

"They found people," the Commander said, "a total of six people. I was told that we'll be given a full briefing once the ship arrives."

"So they'll be coming here then? On the Galactica?" asked Apollo, "I thought they told you that it…"

"It's more likely that we'll be meeting on the Ragnar anchorage itself," said the Commander, "if it was the Galactica, then they'd be in danger if we don't like what they have to say. According to Dr. Lang, at least."

"And if it was on their ship, then we'd be in real trouble if they happen to be Cylons," said Captain Kelley.

"Or it's simply they don't want us to see their technology," said Apollo.

"All they did say was that the ones named Cavil need to be separated from the others," the Commander said, "and that the Cylons claiming to be Saul, Ellen, Tyrol, Tori, and one other, Samuel Anders, should be kept separately."

"Sam Anders?" asked Billy surprised.

"He plays pyramid with the Caprica Buccaneers," Commander Adama nodded his head in agreement, "that's the one."

"Why keep them separate?" asked Apollo.

"I don't know," said the Commander, "Dr. Lang said that two of the people they rescued mentioned their names. And that these five are the last of their kind."

"Are you saying that… wait… but…" the President was stumbling over what to say as her mind tried to catch up with everything that the Commander had just revealed. "Are you saying that those five are not only Cylons, but they're members of the Thirteenth Tribe?"

"And the Thirteenth tribe were what? Cylons?" asked Apollo as the colour from the President's face faded while Billy placed his hand on her shoulders to steady her. Apollo walked over to the desk and stared into his fathers eyes and asked him point-blank if Dr. Lang said anything about the people they rescued being Cylons."

"She said they had nanites in their bloodstream," said the Commander looking at his son, and then at the President who had her hand on her chest while staring right at him with her mouth open. "She did add that their medical scans showed no artificial pathways in their brains, no silica arteries… just organic heart, lungs, brain…. They are fully organic."

"This is not possible," breathed the President as she was gently brought back to the sofa to take a seat, "not possible… not possible."

"Dad," said Apollo after looking back over his shoulder at Billy sitting next to the President who was stunned. He then turned and asked his father, "are you sure? Absolutely sure that's what Dr. Lang said?"

"She also said that the people they rescued, including Saul and the other four, are the creations of an ancient race," said the Commander as he looked at the shocked faces looking back at him, "they are the last of their kind."

"So not Cylons? But still machines?" asked Captain Kelley shaking his head, "but Colonel Tigh… I mean, 'it', it claimed to be human and a Colonial officer."

"They're Cylons either way," said Apollo shaking his head, "but… how about the survivors?"

"Do we trust them?" asked Billy, "do we still meet them?"

"Why do you think I'm having drinks?" asked the Commander, "this is something that needs to be discussed, but at the same time, it sounds like a bad dream that I just can't get out of."

"We need to talk about this," said Roslin softly.

**Galactica Cargo hold, 0445 hours.**

Chief Tyrol was leaning against the bulkhead of the cargo hold he was being kept in along with a few others, a dark skinned woman he had never met before, Tori Forster, was to his right sitting on the floor with her back to the bulkhead. To another corner of the room was Colonel Tigh who was holding onto the hand of his wife, Ellen, who was lying injured on a bed… the both of them whispering that each thought the other had died in the Cylon attack.

And away from them, away from the Chief who had his arms around his chest, stood Sharon 'Boomer' Valeri who was pulled out of her Raptor and brought to the room. It was there that she was surprised to see the Colonel and the others before turning around to ask Apollo what was going on.

And was stunned when told that they had probable cause to believe she was a Cylon. It was the single time that her heart broke at the look of betrayal from Apollo's eyes. The second was when she looked at the anger and betrayal in eyes of the Chief who she loved.

"I'm not a Cylon, chief," Boomer whispered for the umpteenth time that day ever since she was brought into the cargo hold, "I swear to the gods that…"

"Don't you dare take the name of the gods in vain!" yelled the Chief who pointed at her, "I know I'm not a Cylon, and neither is the Colonel or…"

"Then why can't you believe that I'm not a Cylon, Chief?" yelled Boomer in exasperation as she stared at the man she loved, "I'm not a Cylon, and…"

"None of us know what's really going on here!" yelled the Colonel as he stood up and looked at the two of them, and then at Ellen, followed by Tori who was still in shock as she looked down at the floor, "emotions are running high, and we got information from people we don't even know. They could very well be Cylons. The Commander assured me that Doc Cottle will be running his own tests with help of the great Gaius Baltar when he gets back. These people claiming to be the Earthers made a mistake, and if I know the Commander.. he'll demand explanations and…"

"And we've been in here for at least an hour," whispered Tori shaking her head, "and still nothing."

"I trust in the Commander," said the Colonel as he pointed to himself before pointing at Tori, "and so should you."

"I know I'm not a Cylon," whispered Ellen before groaning in pain. The Colonel then sat next to her against and held her hand before telling everyone that the people claiming to be from Earth made a mistake. And that everything was going to be alright, that they shouldn't let paranoia take hold amongst them. Outside of the hatch were three guards… they were there to make sure that the Cylons weren't harmed from anyone on the ship, or at least those who knew the truth since they could move on to another body after death. And the other reason for the guards was to prevent the ones inside the room from escaping.

"Chief," said Boomer as she approached the man slowly, "I'm not a Cylon, and… and I can't be a Cylon because I remember my life. Do you remember yours?"

"I remember everything," said the Chief before he held his hands out and asked her to stop, "we saw them take in two of the old men. Mrs. Tigh said that the old man with her was arrested. He was the same as the old man who arrived in the Raptor hours ago. The sensors of the Earther ships picked out the both of them… I mean Ellen described the same guy we received in the Raptor exactly."

"Chief," barked the Colonel as he looked over his shoulder, "that's enough."

"I know I'm not a Cylon," said the Chief.

"Neither am I, Chief," said Boomer as she pointed to herself, "I'm not a…"

"Then why did the sensors pick you out!" yelled the Chief as Boomer's eyes went wide. She stepped back in shock at the rage on the Chief's face before looking away and saying that he forgot to mention that same Earther sensors detected him as well. "They made a mistake with me."

"They made a mistake with me too," said Boomer with wet eyes, "they made a mistake."

"Apollo said that the Earthers have a picture of your copy on their ship!" yelled the Chief as Tori looked at the floor while on the verge of tears, "he told you in front of me and the Colonel."

"I know I'm not a Cylon!" yelled Boomer as the Colonel got up from his seat and barked.

"Boomer!" he growled while pointing to another corner of the cargo hold, "stand there and don't approach the Chief."

"But…"

"As for you!" barked the Colonel as he stared at the Chief, "the Cylons want us divided. They want us at each other's throats. I don't know why we were picked; but it's proving their point. We are too easily divided. Look at us! Until there is concrete proof, I have to believe that the Cylons are playing a trick. A con. And I know the Old Man. He'll be cautious, but in the end, he will save us from the Cylon threat."

"And what if we are Cylons? Cylons who can't remember that they are Cylons?" asked Tori, her voice trembling as she looked up at the Colonel. She didn't want to believe that she could be a Cylon. Tori Foster remembered her entire life, she remembered working for the mayor of Delphi. She remembered her parents, her lover; her entire life… she remembered everything from the good to the bad that happened over the years. She knew she was a human being, but there was a part that terrified her… a part in the back of her mind asking herself 'what if you are a Cylon? What if they confirm you as a Cylon'.

"We're not," insisted Sharon breaking Tori out of her thoughts.

"What if we are?" asked Tori shaking her head, "what if we are?"

"We can't believe that," said the Colonel, "not when we know its not true."

"What if the Earthers are right," insisted Tori on an answer, "what if they're right?"

"Then we'll be shot out of an airlock," mumbled Ellen as she looked at her husband, "we'll be executed, right? Saul?"

"We are not…"

"Saul," Ellen whispered, "what will happen? Will we be executed?"

"We're not Cylons," said both the Colonel and the Chief.

"We're not," repeated Colonel Tigh, "the Old Man knows that we are not Cylons.".

"But if we are?" said Ellen as she looked up at the ceiling and away from her husband, "I know we're fracked. We are so fracked."

TBC.

 


	25. Chapter 25

**The Odyssey Infirmary.**

While trying to take in everything that they had just been told, Leoben and Triana were standing at the bedsides of the four other survivors who looked back at them in surprise. For a while, no one spoke as they simply looked at each other for a few minutes. Taking a deep breath, it was Leoben who spoke first, introducing himself and then introducing Triana to the four survivors who were still speechless at meeting more survivors.

"Where you in the other complex?" asked the dark skinned woman, who shook her head before excitedly apologized for not introducing herself. "My name is Ava Kennedy." She then pointed at the Caucasian man on the other side of the room facing her as Damian Truman, "and that is Merton Acacius, and the youngest of us Alexis Lily."

"Nice to meet you all," said Triana as she looked at all four who slowly had smiles on their faces before Alexis exclaimed that they needed to find the others. "there were twelve underground complexes designed by my ancestor, Draco Hasiodos, and…"

"Wait," said Triana as she waved her hands, interrupting Alexis, "you mean 'the' Draco Hasiodos of Hasiodos Industries? The same Hasiodos industries that developed, and then patented, the Hydrogen fuel cells for our vehicles and transports?"

"Yes," said Alexis, "the story went that after the first Centurion Uprising, he bought acres of land and began building shelters for… well… those who could afford it. And…"

"You mean for the filthy rich," said Leoben as Ava frowned before nodding her head and saying that they were all ancestors of some of the wealthiest families on Earth.

"Which compound have you come from?" asked Damian.

"We were actually placed in cryonic sleep," said Leoben who looked on at the confused faces. Triana then explained what her father meant, and the looks on the faces of the four survivors switched from happiness at having more people survive, to their mouths hanging open in shock at discovering that the two people talking to them were a little over two thousand years old; they were the last people to have seen Earth as it really was before the apocalypse.

"By the gods," said Ava while the other three whispered 'Oh my God' once the two of them were finished.

"We were surprised too when they told us that there were other survivors," said Leoben as he pulled up a chair and sat down, as did Triana.

"Who are these people?" asked Ava, "I think I remember seeing them after there was a bright white light. I thought I died and went to the afterlife… I mean it was a dream to me. And then I wake up here, and find my friends still alive, and now you.. and…"

"Take it easy, Ava," chuckled Triana before she continued. She remembered what Colonel Pendergast had asked them to do.. to not refer to them as being from Earth in case it confused the four survivors. So instead, Triana referred to their rescuers by the very name they wanted to be referred to, "these people call themselves Terrans. We're on their ship. They're taking us to another place since… well…"

"Earth is destroyed," Merton said shaking his head.

"The ship scanned for life signs," said Leoben, "they found us, and then you four. There aren't other survivors. I'm so sorry."

"The Terrans told us they detected heavy concentrations of carbon dioxide in the compound, and the room you were in had enough oxygen to barely survive," Leoben said leaning forward, "what happened?"

Triana saw the pain in the four pairs of eyes that were looking at them, and then at each other. Ava was about to speak but Triana said that they didn't have to say anything if it made them uncomfortable. Ava, Damian, and the others sighed before glancing at each other. The three of them then looked at Ava, the oldest on the group, and nodded their heads before looking away; silently giving her the go ahead to explain what happened.

"We couldn't go out," said Ava before taking a deep breath, "maybe the primary door and elevator shaft malfunctioned. But we couldn't leave. We tried everything, but the compound was built with security in mind. Whatever code we input, we simply could not get out. And that was fifty years ago."

"What happened then?"

"We had everything we ever needed to survive, in the complex," said Damian, "waste and water recyclers, gardens and bio-spheres, air scrubbers… I mean everything we needed to live underground for hundreds of years were there. Of course, there were those who weren't happy being trapped… but what could you do? There was no way out."

"How many people were there?" asked Triana.

"Fifteen hundred," said Alexis and then she motioned at the four of them, "we were staying in the same room when… well, we woke up last night to the sounds of people walking around the halls gurgling, while some were whispering for help. When we got up… well… I mean… the air felt thick. We coughed… and we felt as if we couldn't breathe."

"Your generators?" asked Triana.

"There were instances where people have gone insane from being underground for so long," said Alexia, "they were placed in converted cells at the lower levels. But… I.. I don't know. All I remember is that I was woken up suddenly by air that was thick. We couldn't breathe and… and by the time we were out in the hallways, we saw people on the floor unconscious. Some were dead… some barely alive."

"We had to leave them there," whispered Ava shaking her head, "there as no choice. We tripped over each other and those bodies to get to one of the biospheres. We sealed the door behind us and… and we knew we were going to die but I didn't want to die in that way. Not…."

Triana noticed the pained expressions on each of their faces before assuring them that everything was going to be alright. The General mentioned that their planet was destroyed, and hoped that the Terrans would be able to help them find a new home.

"But with only six of us?" asked Merton shaking his head, "how… I mean we can't even be a people anymore. The Furlings race is extinct and…"

"There's us," said Damian softly.

"And there are five others out there," said the General, "we'll be together again and… and maybe we'll have a new planet to live on once again. Believe me, it's not going to be easy for any of us after what we've been though… but we're together. And we'll move on together."

"Move on together then," whispered Ava nodding her head.

**Cylon Resurrection Ship, sixty light years from Caprica, ten minutes before arrival of the Odyssey.**

"Anything?" asked Cavil as he looked out at the stars while one of the Doral's stood next to him with a D'Anna. He knew that the Cavil that left from Caprica to where he believed the Galactica was located would convince the fleet that Caprica was safe, and that the Galactica would return to at least check it out. And even rescue their people on the surface.

And if he wasn't able to convince them, Cavil knew that his copy would at least commit suicide and resurrect on the Resurrection Ship. At least that was the plan, once he returned then he would give the go-ahead for an attack after gaining intelligence on the Galactica's capabilities.

However, he still hadn't returned. And this particular Cavil was getting impatient. He knew that there the Cylons had already destroyed more than four fifths of the Colonial fleet, and they were still going after several others based on the information stolen from the Défense Ministry.

"What do you want to do, Cavil?" asked Doral.

"We know where the Galactica's docked," said Cavil, "before he left, my copy guessed that the Galactica would head for the Ragnar Anchorage since she needs armaments. So, he left for Caprica, and then left the planet in a Search and Rescue Raptor after killing the personnel and then took off for Galactica's location."

"What if the people claiming to be the Earthers are with them?" asked D'Anna, "you saw the debris over Caprica. Those were…

"The Earthers were lucky, that's all," said Cavil as he looked at D'Anna, "they won't be lucky again. Contact the Colony. I want fifty Baseships at the orbit of Ragnar and once we're there, we'll wait. They have to come out sometime, and when they do… well… say hello to the Cylon fleet."

"By your command, Cavil," said Doral with a smile on his face before he turned and headed to the central command room. In the meantime, D'Anna stood by his side saying that he was taking a huge risk.

"The Galactica can wait," she said as she looked out at the stars, "we have other targets just waiting to be shot down, and then we have Simon's experimental farms on the surface. We have to start rounding up the humans and… and we take it slow. What if your copy hasn't been able to the Galactica yet? What if he's at another weapons depot?"

"Then he would have returned," said Cavil as he verbally recalled talking with his copy before he left for Caprica. "We know that the Ragnar anchorage is the closest weapons depot to the Galactica's last location where our Basestars attacked it a few minutes after we attacked Caprica. So, it's there, and he should have reached the gas giant hours ago. The only question is why hasn't he resurrected."

"So, we're going?" asked D'Anna.

"We're going," replied Cavil with his hands behind his back as he looked out to the stars. And imagined the end of all humanity.

**The Odyssey, ten minutes to Ragnar.**

Triana and General Leoben had been given quarters where they were able to take a hot shower, and were given a fresh set of clothes to wear. The General and Triana, in their own respective showers, where thankful for the hot water that was falling on them from the showerhead… it was a feeling that brought a smile to their faces, as well as a dull ache in their hearts when they thought about the people they knew; all of them were dead… all except for the five who escaped the destruction of their world.

Triana then got out of the shower with a towel around her body and looked out the viewport in her room at the blue and white hyperspace tunnel they were travelling through. She and her father had a thirty minute long conversation with the other survivors who, after the two of them left, were left with a sense of calm that they weren't alone from their destroyed world. Back in her room, Triana wiped herself dry while staring at the blue and white outside before she turned and put on the shirt and trousers that had been given to her. She kept the curls in her hair as she turned to the knocking door, and asked whoever it was to enter.

"Father," said Triana with a smile as the door opened with the General standing in the hallway. She left the room, and walked arm in arm with her father while flanked by three guards. They were supposed to meet their copies who were being held on the ship before being brought to the mess hall for some food. They followed the guard who was leading them to a door at the end of another hallway where Tara, Buffy, and Grogan were waiting for them. Once they reached the door, Tara asked Triana and the General if they were ready.

"No," said General Leoben, "but I guess we have to meet them sometime, no matter how much I personally feel disgusted at what they did. I still have t o meet them and… and try to come up with a way to end the fighting."

"We'll be talking to the Colonials as well," said Tara before translating for Buffy and Grogan She then turned back towards the General and Triana, nodded her head, and then opened the door. Inside, Natalie, Leoben, and Sharon stood up from their beds in silently shock as they watched the General and Triana walk into the room with Tara, Grogan, and Buffy.

"Oh my God," whispered Natalie as she looked at a frowning Triana.

"We really need to talk," said the General as he stared at his copy, and then glanced over at Natalie, and finally he stared at the woman who Tara had already prepared him for by saying that she was a copy of their Lauren Satterfield.

**Colonial Refugee Planet, 0600 hours.**

Carolanne Adama peeked her head into the tent to make sure that the little boy under her charge was still sleeping. Upon seeing that he was fast asleep, she stepped back and zipped the entryway closed before standing up and turning around. Ever since waking up earlier, she hadn't been able to go back to sleep. Her mind was full of worry and mourning the memory of her fiancée who most likely died in the nuclear attack on Caprica. She headed back to the Mess Tent, and poured herself another cup of coffee. The men she had been talking to earlier had already left for their own tents, the woman having even spurned an offer to sleep with one of them… the very same one who asked which Colony she was from, and who led the toast to the Galactica.

She was standing alone in the Mess Tent looking at another tent in the distance which had communication equipment set up. Or at least she believed it was communication equipment judging from the satellite dish which had only just finished being set up next to the tent. Sighing, Carolanne turned around again and sat down with her memories of Apollo, Zak, Commander Adama, and even her fiancé. Taking a sip of the coffee, she wondered in the Galactica still existed… a part of her was admonishing her for underestimating her former husband and his strong will to fight on. And another part of her was silently telling her to go to the tent of the man who came onto her, and sleep with him.

'All I need is a drink,' she thought to herself as she pushed the thought of sleeping with the man out of her mind. She needed to wait… she needed to know if her oldest son was still alive. She needed to know if her ex-husband was still alive. If they were not, she wanted to mourn their passing… and at the same time she felt a responsibility to look after the child. She kept on reminding herself what she was like when she drank. And it led to Carolanne shaking her head, telling herself that period of her life needed to be over.

Sighing, she then took another sip of her coffee and discounted the alcohol she wanted, and the sex that was offered to her. It was a few seconds later that she heard a commotion from the radio tent. She turned on the bench she was sitting on and noticed one of the translators heading for the tent. She saw him talk into a radio contented to what, to her, looked like a complicated piece of equipment. She saw the man speaking and nodding his head before he rushed out of the tent and looked around.

It was when he laid his eyes on her that he ran to the Mess Tent, and asked Carolanne to follow him. The urgency in his voice made her believe that something was wrong, and then first thing that came to her mind was that the Cylons had somehow found this planet.

'But then again, he wouldn't call me. They would have woken everyone up and evacuated us through the thing they called the Gate to the Stars.'

" _Is it the Cylons?"_ asked Carolanne as she stood up _._

" _No,"_ said the young man as he hurried back to the tent with Carolanne next to him _, "they say they're something called Raptor's? From the Galactica?"_

" _The Galactica?"_ asked Carolanne as they entered the communications tent. She was then handed the radio by translator, and pressed the transmit button _. "Hello?"_

" _Ma'am, my name is Lt. Margaret Edmondson, call sign Racetrack, from the Battlestar Galactica."_

" _My… my…"_ Carolanne stifled a sob at hearing that the ships were from the Galactica since it meant that her son and ex-husband were very likely still alive. Despite her heart racing, she was still struggling to breathe because of the fact she was trying her best to stifle her sobs as tears went down her cheeks, _"my name… name is Carolanne Adama."_

" _Adama?"_ asked Racetrack as she looked at her co-pilot through eyes narrowed in confusion, _"ma'am, are you related to Commander William Adama? Captain Lee Adama?"_

" _I… I'm his ex-wife. Is…. is he still alive? Is Lee alive?"_

" _Yes, ma'am,"_ said Racetrack as she heard an audible gap followed by a sob as the Raptor entered the atmosphere, _"the Commander and Apollo are still alive. We've been ordered to conduct a fly-by and conduct an aerial sweep of the area before heading back to the Galactica."_

" _Will the Galactica be coming here_?" asked the translator after one of the Major's said they needed to know how many people to prepared for if they were heading for the planet. Carolanne wiped her eyes as she heard thunder in the sky. She, the translator, and the major headed out as two Raptors rocketed over them. At hearing the loud noises, the other colonials quickly got up, including the child who was sleeping next to Carolanne. He looked around for her just as the raptors flew over again and, thinking that it was the Cylons who found them, the boy started to tear up.

Back outside, when Carolanne realized that the child could have woken up from the sounds of the raptors, handed the radio to the translator without asking the question. She rushed over to the tent while the translator spoke to Racetrack. The woman reached her tent, and heard the child crying.

"Stupid, Carolanne," she told herself as she unzipped the tent and peeked in to see the little boy crying as he cowered in one side of the tent. Upon seeing Carolanne, he rushed to her on all fours and the woman took him into her arms and hugged him. "Don't be scared, sweetheart." Carolanne's heart broke at the sounds made by the crying child as she stepped back and then stood up while pointing up into the sky. The child heard the reassuring voice of the woman who had been looking after him and, through tear stained eyes, looked around at the Colonials, including the children looking up. He looked up as well, following Carolanne's arm and a smile appeared as he saw the two Raptor in the air flying in circles.

" _Ma'am,"_ said the translator who was waving her over. Carolanne ran to the man as Racetrack's raptor flew overhead once again. The two ships then angled upwards and headed back towards the sky. The Translator handed the woman the radio and said that Racetrack wanted to talk to her _._

" _Yes, Lieutenant,"_ said Carolanne while carrying the child in her arms _._

" _I was told that all of you are being well fed, and have been given medical attention?"_

" _Yes,"_ replied Carolanne just as Racetrack's raptor, and the other ship were just about to break orbit. _"We're being well taken care off. There's about thirty survivors here, and… is the Galactica coming here?"_

" _I'll talk to Commander Adama, ma'am,"_ said Racetrack _, "my gun cameras have taken pictures of everyone on the surface. I've already told the Major in charge of the camp that we have over sixty thousand refugees on over seventy different ships. All civilian except for the Galactica. I'm not sure if the Commander and President will be sending the ships over to this planet immediately. But I've recommended to the Major that they need to be prepared to receive a mass influx of people anyway. Just to be on the safe side."_

" _Alright,"_ said Carolanne as the other Colonials approached her _, "we… we're all happy to see that more people have survived."_

" _Yes, ma'am,"_ said Racetrack as she entered orbit _, "and I'll tell the Commander and Captain Adama that you're alive personally. We'll return… I promise you and the other Colonials down there We'll return. Racetrack out."_

" _Gods-speed,"_ said Carolanne just before the two Raptors vanished in flashes of white light. After the signal was gone, the Colonials cheered while some hugged each other at hearing that there were more survivors. In the meantime, Carolanne handed the radio back to the translator while holding on tight to the child in her arms as she cried. _"They're alive, they're alive."_

_TBC._

 


	26. Chapter 26

**Orbit of Ragnar Anchorage, five minutes later, five minutes until arrival of the Odyssey.**

There were fifty flashes of light, one after another, as Baseships appeared in orbit of the gas giant Ragnar. Once all of them had arrived, the Cavil on one of the Baseships stared at the greenish planet below with his hands behind his back. He knew that the orders from his copy on the Resurrection ship near Caprica was to have them wait the humans out… to wait for them to leave the safety of the radiation in the gas giant. But this particular Cavil didn't want to wait. Before leaving the Colony, he told the Resurrection ship Cavil that he would be sending six raiders in through the eye of the storm towards the Anchorage.

He believed that the Raiders would flush the Colonials out, "they'll send a ship out to investigate, and then they will see our forces. They know they can't hide for long, and if I know humans… and I do, they'll want to fight us before making an escape. If we can swarm the Galactica with our raiders, we can destroy it."

The Cavil on the Resurrection ship who jumped his fleet to sixty light years from Ragnar agreed. He didn't like the plan, but there was a part of him that wanted this to end so that they could move on to the next step. And with the overwhelming force of fifty ships, he knew that even the Earth vessel would not be able to hold out for long if they were with the Galactica.

Once the order was given, six raiders launched from one of the Baseships and flew silently towards the eye of the storm. They travelled through the winding tunnel that made up the eye of the storm while keeping themselves steady. The Raiders, living beings unto themselves, knew if they were destroyed…which was very likely to happen, their memories would be sent back to the Baseship and uploaded to new Raider bodies. At the same time, the humanoid Cylons would be able to tie into their datastream and absorb whatever information was relayed back.

So for now, all the Raiders could do was fly towards their destination.

**The Britannia, at that same time.**

"Captain," said the Lieutenant on the port console next to the Command Chair, "sensors are reading six ships, about the size of F-302's, heading through the eye of the storm. Contact in one minute."

Dr. Lang and Woolsey, who were on the bridge, were watching the scanners as the last of the humanoid Cylons were being arrested and taken away to the Galactica. The final Raptor boarded the giant ship through the flight pod just as the warning from the Lieutenant had Woolsey and Dr. Lang rush to the Captain who was still seated on his command chair.

"Dr. Lang, please inform the Galactica we have unknown birds heading to our location."

**The Galactica, CIC.**

It had been twenty minutes since Commander Adama and his senior staff, as well as the President and Billy, re-entered the CIC. The Commander and the others had thought it best that the meeting between their peoples be held on the anchorage in one hour.

With a little under forty minutes left before the meeting, Apollo, Commander Adama, and the others looked up at the DRADIS screen when Dr. Lang contacted them about the six fighters that were heading their way. It was a few seconds later that the screen showed the Colonial officers the six dots which were identified as Cylon Raiders. And it was confirmed as much by Starbuck and her CAP when they broke their patrol to head the Raider's off before they could do any damage to the civilian ships.

Commander Adama notified Dr. Lang that the ships were Cylon, and that they would be heading back to their Baseship with the location of the fleet. " _And if they do, Dr. Lang, then we have a problem. They could very well bring their entire fleet down upon us."_

"Galactica, Starbuck," the blonde Colonial officer said over the communications system to the giant ship as she and the other Viper pilots flew towards the Raiders which were about to begin turning back, "permission to engage."

"You are weapons free, Starbuck… I repeat, Weapons-free," said Apollo after receiving the go-ahead from his father.

**Britannia, that same time.**

While Starbuck and the other Vipers, including the recently launched Alert Fighters, started to fire on the six Cylon Raiders, Captain Fitzgerald ordered his crew to run a subspace scan on the area of space above the gas giant. While the scans were being conducted, the Captain ordered that the railguns track any missile launched towards the Britannia or the civilian ships. And if missiles were fired, the railguns were to destroy the projectiles. The Captain then turned to Woolsey, while Dr. Lang was speaking with Commander Adama, who reminded him that the Britannia could not interfere unless the ship itself was under attack.

"Sir," said the Lieutenant on the starboard console next to the Command Chair as he turned to Captain Fitzgerald, and then back at his screen, "sensors are detecting fifty large ships, similar in size to the reports from the Avalon. We're also detecting over… this can't be right…"

"What is it?" asked the Captain.

"Sir," said the Lieutenant as he looked back at the older man, "we're detecting over one thousand two hundred of these Cylon fighters. As well as hundreds of other ships that are simply waiting out there."

"Just waiting?" asked Woolsey.

"Yes, sir," said the Lieutenant as Dr. Lang, who also heard the exchange, just looked on in stunned silence. The Captain then had Dr. Lang relay the information to the Galactica in case their sensors weren't able to pick up the waiting Cylon fleet.

Commander Adama, Roslin, and the others in the CIC were surprised when they heard that the Britannia had such advanced sensors that they were able to 'see' through the storm. The news of the Cylon fleet also worried them since the Galactica was only one battleship, and it was protecting a large civilian fleet. The President then asked Dr. Lang if this was the time when the Britannia could help against the Cylons. While Roslin was listening to the answer from Dr. Lang, Commander Adama had Captain Kelly and Apollo send the coordinates of the refugee planet to the rest of the civilian fleet.

"I want two Raptors to take off for the Colonies," said the Commander at Apollo and Captain Kelley, "get to Picon, and contact the Hermes, Athena, and the Pieces. Contact the other ships as well, tell them to stand-by for jump coordinates to the planet the Earthers told us about."

"Yes, sir," said Apollo before he picked up at phone at the center table they were surrounding, and made the call to have the Raptors ready for launch in five minutes.

"Saul," said the Commander as he looked at Captain Kelly, the man who was the temporary Executive Officer. The Captain, Apollo, Billy, Roslin, and a few others stared at the Commander who looked back down at his table, rubbed his head in frustration, and he shook his head before looking back up at the Captain once again. It kept going through the Commander's mind that his best friend and Executive Officer was a suspected Cylon. He tried to push the thought to the back of his mind as he sighed. "Captain Kelley, my apologies."

"It's alright, sir," said the man as he looked at the exhaustion on the Commander's face.

"We have the final coordinates. I want all jump points, from the mouth of the Eye to the refugee planet, given to all ships' Captains. Work with Captain Adama to plot those jump points." The Commander then nodded his head before ordering the Captain and Apollo to get to work.

"Understood," said Captain Kelly who then rushed off with Apollo and a few other officers to make the necessary calculations. In the meantime, the President and Billy were standing next to the Commander before asking him if he had a plan.

"The Earthers said that they won't interfere," said Roslin, "and those Cylons are simply awaiting for us to get out of here."

"They can wait as long as they want," said Billy as the Commander stared at the table and nodded his head, "and we are the ones who need food, water, air… they'll wait for us to make a move."

"The Earthers said that they won't make a move while they aren't being attacked," said Commander Adama, "and they said that they'll protect the civilian fleet at least."

"What are you saying?"

"Madam President," said the Commander, "once we have the Coordinates, I will ask the Earthers to escort us to the mouth of the eye. There, we'll fire all of our guns… everything we have… while the civilian fleet is protected by the Britannia. The Britannia will be hit, and if they survive, then they would be in the same situation as us. They would have to help."

"We would have to confirm what they're saying, don't we?" asked Billy.

"Dee," said the Commander as he turned to the young woman, "have Starbuck head out the through the tunnel and conduct a recon mission. I want to know if the Earther's scans are accurate.

While the CIC on the Galactica was abuzz with activity, Captain Fitzgerald turned to another crew member and asked for him to open a channel so that they could send a message to the Cylon fleet; that they needed to disperse.

"Radio signals are not going through this storm, sir," said a young woman.

"Captain, Commander Adama is asking if we're sure about the fleet over the planet. They can't see out of the storm using their sensors." Dr. Lang stared at the Captain who then said that he was certain, just as the last Raider was destroyed. The bridge crew then saw a viper heading out the eye of the storm while Commander Adama was telling Dr. Lang that he sent out the Vipers to conduct a recon mission.

"Mr. Woolsey," said the Captain as he turned to the diplomat while the Galactica began undocking procedure from the anchorage, "whether we go out, or we stay here protecting these people, either way we're in the crossfire of the Cylons. If what happened to the Avalon was any evidence, then the Cylons WILL attack us too. Even if this isn't our war."

"But the Odyssey is on the way with those people from Earth… or rather the fake Earth," said Woolsey.

"Sir," said another Lieutenant, "I'm reading data bursts from the destroyed fighters to a ship in orbit of the gas giant."

"So, let's assume that the ships already know about the Galactica and all these civilian ships," said the Captain as he looked at Woolsey, "we can't risk waiting for the Odyssey."

"But…"

"Mr. Woolsey," said the Captain, "the enemy has our location. And they could very well send missiles and nukes down here without us even being able to fight back. Or at least without the civilian ships being unable to fight back."

"What do you have in mind?" asked Woolsey.

"Niles," said the Captain as he looked at a Lieutenant to his left side, "contact the Galactica. Dr. Lang, send a message saying that we're going to head out there and talk to these people. We'll try and get them to back off while they begin evacuating the civilian ships."

After the Captain received a nod, he then told Woolsey that he had an idea of what to do in case the talks failed. The Commander then looked at the officer on the port console and asked him to run a scan for any fleet of ships in a radius of sixty light years to seventy light years, "Lieutenant, keep an eye out for the ships similar to that our recon Jumper examined earlier. I want the one that especially looks like the massive glass cathedral."

"Understood, sir," was the reply.

"Captain?" asked Woolsey, "what are you planning?"

"Something that could save lives," the Captain answered while Dr. Lang said that Commander Adama responded by saying that the Galactica would be ready to go in a few minutes, with the civilian ships following them. The Captain then looked back at Dr. Lang and asked her to tell Commander Adama to give them five minutes before coming out with the other ships.

"Five minutes?" asked Dr. Lang.

"The Odyssey should be here by then," said the Captain before turning to the starboard Lieutenant. While Dr. Lang was relaying the message to Commander Adama, Captain Fitzgerald was ordering that the Britannia activate its sub-light engines and leave the Anchorage. "Activate the Ancient shields, charge all energy weapons, prepare to fire the Railguns." The bridge lights then dimmed as Dr. Lang told Commander Fitzgerald that Commander Adama told him the Galactica would be ready in ten minutes before telling him the question Roslin wanted relayed.

"He'd like to know if we've changed our minds in regard to interfering in their war?" asked Dr Lang.

"We're just protecting ourselves," said the Commander, "if these Cylons fire on us, then we'll be forced to fire back, so will the Galactica. How many Cylons were alive in that large glass ship we conducted the recon mission on?"

"Four hundred," said a young woman from the rear of the bridge as the sub-light thrusters fired nd the Britannia moved off.

"And how many of those bodies that registered no heartbeats?" asked the Commander.

"Over five thousand," replied the young woman.

"The Odyssey is already on the way, Captain," said Woolsey, "and they have the people from that fake Earth. I'm sure that once these Cylons hear from them; that there is more to their ancestry that perhaps even they know about, that we could open talks."

"And how long until the Odyssey is here?" asked the Captain after telling the diplomat that he agreed with him

"Four minutes," said another officer.

"We still have to be prepared," said Captain Fitzgerald as he looked back up at Woolsey. "Attacking that glass ship may have to be the only way these people surrender."

"We could always run," said Woolsey as the Britannia headed to the 'eye-tunnel' towards space. He suggested that the Britannia, Odyssey, and Galactica could leave if they were too overwhelmed.

The Captain then shook his head before saying, "running away would show the Cylons that we're afraid to make the decisions that have to be made. They need that glasss ship to be reborn, so if we take it out… we're looking at five thousand four hundred bodies lost. But if they attack and we fight back with all the weapons at our disposal, then… wait… Niles, how many lives on those ships. In total."

"Thrity five thousand," said the young man, "all of them are alive."

"So which would you rather see," said the Captain as he looked back up at Woolsey, "four hundred living people killed? Or Thirty five thousand?"

Woolsey just looked at the man without saying a word. His feelings were mixed on the issue before he looked up at the front viewport at Starbucks's viper rushing past them towards the Colonial fleet. Her intercepted communications confirmed the Britannia's sensor reading; the Earther ship was right, there really was a fleet of ships just waiting for them out in space. And it was that message that had Commander Adama rush Apollo and Captain Kelley on the jump points to the refugee planet.

In the meantime, the Britannia had come out of the 'eye' and face to face with the fifty Baseships and the over thousand Raiders.

" _This is Dr. Lang on behalf of the Captain of the HMS Britannia, Captain Fitzgerald."_ Dr. Lang then looked back at the Captain after she was told to translate a message while another officer told the Captain that the Odyssey was three minutes out. The Captain nodded his head before asking the young officer to contact the Odyssey via subspace, and then send to them the coordinates of the Resurrection ship. He then turned to Dr. Lang and asked her to translate what he was saying.

"Cylon vessels, we need to talk," said the Captain as Dr. Lang translated. In the meantime, the Odyssey, which was still in hyperspace received the message from the Britannia telling them about the fleet of fifty ships in orbit of Ragnar. Colonel Pendergast was then told about the Resurrection ship and the possibility to stop major hostilities before they even begin. While the situation was tense over Ragnar the Odyssey, with General Leoben, Triana, and Natalie on the bridge watched the hyperspace tunnel in front of them while Major Marks input the new coordinates and headed for the fleet protecting the resurrection ship.

Natalie couldn't help but look on as a few minutes later, the tunnel vanished and they were in real space flying towards the Resurrection fleet. Leoben and Triana looked on stunned at the large fleet in front of them as they imagined the destruction caused in the Colonies. Their view switched to the gigantic glass ship when Womack said that the ship was powering up.

"Weapons?" asked Colonel Mitchel as he turned to Natalie while Tara translated.

" _It's the jump drive,"_ said Natalie as she looked at Colonel Mitchell, and then looked away and at the viewport in front of them, _"it has no weapons."_ The Colonel then looked at the side of Natalie's face, and then he glanced over at Triana, and then back at Natalie before hearing Willow go, 'Ahem!' The Colonel then turned to Willow who was grinning at her superior officer before mentally telling the man he could feel his attraction for the humanoid Cylon woman, and the original Furling template.

The Colonel narrowed his eyes at the redhead just as the ship banked and the lights dimmed.

"We're being targeted, sir," said Buffy from the rear of the ship, "they're firing nuclear weapons, and launching fighters."

"Raise shields. Target the power surge, lock railguns on the source and on the missiles coming at us, and then fire," said Colonel Pendergast while the two Furlings looked at each other upon hearing the word 'shields' while Natalie remembered what she had seen the day she defected. She remembered the shields and energy weapons that decimated the Cylons over Caprica before she was allowed onto the Avalon. She and the others watched some of the missiles and fighters destroyed by railgun fire while the Ancient shields took care of a few strays that were missed by the railguns. A second later, railgun rounds smashed through the source of the surge, destroying the jump engines on the Resurrection ship completely before the Odyssey moved off and then came about firing on the Raiders that were heading towards it.

" _You may want to tell them to stop,"_ said Tara as she looked at Natalie while nodding at the Cylon fleet in front of them.

Natalie nodded her head before being taken to another console.

" _Cavil, this is Natalie. Listen to me very carefully. I need you to stand down… do you understand me? Stand down, stand…"_

" _You traitor!"_ yelled Cavil after he got up after stumbling onto the floor following an explosion that completely destroyed the engines. He looked at one of the Sharon's who said that they lost Jump engines, and were stuck in space. She then added that the Baseships were already firing on the Earther ship. He placed his hand into the basin of water, as did the other Humanoid Cylons in the Resurrection ship and connected to the Cylon datastream. The others ordered the Baseships and raiders to attack, while an enraged Cavil admonished Natalie. _"You helped the humans bring about the death of your own kind, and…"_

" _I've been to Earth! Now… surrender… please. Listen to these people."_ yelled Natalie into the radio as the Odyssey, using all her engines to manoeuvre past the missiles before being fired upon by the Baseships. All while destroying the raiders. Colonel Pendergast hoped for a surrender before he had no choice but to fire the Ancient energy weapons at the Baseships. He listened to Tara's translation of Natalie's words while Satterfield translated the responses. In the meantime, a subspace transmission was sent to the Britannia who was facing off against the massive Cylon fleet. While the Cavil on the resurrection ship was stunned at the revelation by Natalie that she had been to the Earth of the Thirteenth Tribe, who were the ancestors of the Cylon race; the Cavil on the lead ship in the Cylon fleet of fifty ships was incredulous at the gall of the Captain of this one lone ship asking him to surrender.

All just so that they could open a dialogue. He then listened on enraged as the Captain explained that an Earth ship was with the resurrection fleet. He then added and that he received news only seconds ago that the Jump drives were destroyed.

"The ship is dead in the water," said Captain Fitzgerald as Dr Lang translated. Their shields were still raised, and all their weapons were locked onto five of the baseships while the Captain said that the Odyssey was prepared to destroy the Resurrection ship, and that if any Baseship jumped to that location as reinforcements, "then they will destroy the entire fleet. Your people depend on this resurrection technology. What happens if you die and can't resurrect? Are you willing to find out?"

Cavil was enraged, as were the other humanoids on the Baseships. Thanks to the memories of the dead Cylons over Caprica being placed into a 'data pool' on the Resurrection Hub, Cavil and the other Cylons knew about the shields and the energy weapons of the Earth ships. However, despite the shields and the advanced technology, Cavil believed wholeheartedly that the Earth ships could be destroyed by sheer overwhelming force.

And he had the anger of the Humanoid Cylons who resented being dictated to by humans guiding his crusade. Cavil was about to order the launching of nuclear missiles at the small Earth ship when Dr. Lang's voice once again came through the speakers in the Command Center; this time admitting that the Odyssey had been to the home of the Thirteenth Tribe.

Cavil brought his hands out of the water in the basin just before everyone shared, through the data stream, a moment of surprise. The older man however, wasn't surprised, although he played it really well based on the expression on his face. He knew about Earth, about the truth of the Thirteenth Tribe. His 'parents'; Saul Tigh, Ellen Tigh, Sam Anders, Galen Tyrol, and Tori Foster told him the truth of who they were after he and his models were created.

Only Cavil knew the truth. And he didn't want the others to know. The old man was stunned to hear that the Earthers had found survivors from the Earth of the Thirteenth tribe. And that two of them wanted the fighting to finally end.

"They're lying," said Cavil shaking his head. He knew that it was impossible. While his 'parents' hadn't told him the location of Earth, he knew that it was completely and utterly destroyed based on what he heard. 'But now, there are survivors? Really? After a nuclear holocaust?'

"There are civilians with us," said Captain Fitzgerald, "and I don't want to see anymore deaths… on either side. But know this… if you fire on us, I will send the message to the other ship that's showing constraint by not firing on your star-shaped ships who are still lobbing missiles. The Odyssey is just firing on the smaller fighters. So, how about we stop fighting? You pull back your fleet, and we'll get the civilians out of here. We'll give you a world where…."

"Fire everything at them," hissed Cavil as he glared at the Cylons in front of him.

"They know about the Thirteenth Tribe," said D'Anna, "they have survivors and I want to speak to them. As do the rest of my line."

"Mine as well," said Simon, followed by Leoben, and then Sharon after they conferred with the rest of their models through the data-stream.

"I don't agree," said Doral, "the humans are lying to us. I say we retreat, and then think about this."

"We'll be leaving our resurrection ship out here by…"

"We should talk to them," said a D'Anna staring at Cavil who she had interrupted, "you said it yourself, we have a disabled resurrection ship out there. We know what kind of weapons they have, but if they destroy the resurrection ship, then we die here for real. I say we listen to what they have to say."

"Tell the Resurrection fleet to stop firing on the other ship," said Simon as he looked at an angry Cavil. The older man nodded his head before putting his hand back into the basin of water. And then smiled. Cavil then input his hidden knowledge of Earth and the Final Five into the Datastream shared by the fifty Basestars. The Humanoid Cylons in all ships looked up stunned at their Cavils, at the treachery perpetrated by the humanoid Cylon.

And then he had one order for the raiders after locking the other humanoid Cylons out of their systems. "Destroy the Earther ship."

"No!" yelled D'Anna just as the Raiders attacked the Britannia. Sighing, Captain Fitzgerald ordered the attack on the Cylons ships.

"Full thrust, constant evasive manoeuvres, we do not stay still for an instant!" yelled the man as the ship shook slightly thanks to missiles impacting the shield while the energy weapons took out five Baseships while a subspace message was sent to the Odyssey. The larger Daedalus class ship was still under attack when they received news that the Britannia was being fired upon. A stunned Natalie watched as bursts of energy were fired at the resurrection ship while reports came through from Willow, who had rushed to the engine room after the battle started, said that shields were down to eighty percent thanks to the incredible number of multiple nuclear weapons hitting the shield after being fired from Raiders.

After the resurrection ship was destroyed, the Odyssey turned to the other ships in the fleet and proceeded to destroy them while Natalie and the Furlings could only watch in stunned silence. In the meantime, while the Britannia destroyed another ship, the Cavil in the lead ship ordered the Centurions in all remaining ships over the Ragnar gas giant to kill all humanoid Cylons, except for him. He didn't want any of them jumping to safety with the knowledge that he knew the truth of their creators. He turned as the Cylons around him, even the Doral's, screamed at him before being gunned down by the Centurions.

Cavil then ordered the Hybrid controlling his ship to move to the rear of the fleet, while ordering the rest of the ships.. now under the control of the Centurions, to continue firing the Earth vessel. He wanted to see how much damage the Earth ship could take before the shields fell. He was then going to jump out of there and return to the Colony with information of how barbaric the Earthers were; that he had believed that they wanted peace when they called for a truce. But instead, once he and the other ships approved the truce to hear what they had to say, they were fired upon by the advanced weaponry.

It was just then that the Galactica and her vipers, as well as two Raptors which vanished in flashes of light, flew out of the 'eye' of the storm and fired on the Raiders. Now was the first time that the Colonials, particularly Commander Adama and the others in the Galactica's CIC, knew the reason for the debris in the orbit of Caprica. They listened to an amazed Starbuck who screamed through the radio that the Britannia was firing energy weapons that had destroyed a Cylon Baseship while the Avalon class ship, as it weaved through a barrage of missiles, was hit by a few missiles that impacted against the shield.

"A shield?" asked Apollo in the CIC with a look of surprise on his face.

"At least now we know what happened over Caprica," the Commander said as he stared at the DRADIS screen before barking orders to fire weapons at the Raiders and to lock onto the nearest Baseships. While the Galactica and the Britannia, soon joined by the Odyssey, fired at the massive Cylon fleet, the civilian ships travelled behind the Galactica acting as a shield before jumping away.

One civilian ship after another jumped away while the Baseships were being destroyed one by one.

All the while, Natalie was screaming at Cavil.. or to anyone who could hear her, to stop the fighting.

"Sir," said Marks as the Odyssey banks before opening fire once again, "sensors are detecting.. this can't be right… sensors are detecting weapons fire from inside the alien ships."

" _No,"_ whispered Natalie after Tara translated.

"Life signs are… sir, there are no more life signs on any of the ships," said Marks as he looked at Colonel Pendergast while the Baseships continued firing missiles. The commander of the Odyssey then had Marks confirm with the Britannia while the ship shook when the shield was impacted by sixteen normal missiles. Womack was the one who said that the Britannia confirmed their sensor readings- there were no more lifsigns.

It was carnage in space as debris and bodies were floating as twenty-five Baseships remained after ten minutes of constant firing. Colonel Pendergast turned to Natalie and asked how it was possible that the ships were still firing.

"The Centurions," said Satterfield just as Willow said that more than half of their railgun ammunition had already been used up. The three ships; the Odyssey, Britannia, and the Galactica continued to fire at the Baseships and the Raiders for the next twenty-five minutes. Eventually the three ships lay in a wasteland of floating space debris and bodies after a single Baseship had jumped away. Natalie, Leoben, and Triana had watched the destruction from the bridge as the Vipers returned to the Galactica. In the meantime, Leoben and Sharon watched from their quarters holding on to each other at the destruction all around them.

"What do we do now," whispered Sharon before she closed her eyes and shook her head, "what do we do now?"

TBC.

 


	27. Chapter 27

**The Colony, several minutes later.**

Cavil's Baseship was the only one to return to the Cylon home world. And it was by design, he couldn't let the others know the truth about the Five from Earth who created them. He wanted them all under his control, and having a rumour that their creators were alive and well would undermine his own authority. Thus, the reason why he was secretly happy that the Resurrection ship was destroyed. However, he did admit to himself that it was fortunate that he was so arrogant to believe that fifty Baseships, along with their accompanying raiders, would be able to defeat one Battlestar.

And he knew it was possible.

He knew that fifty ships would destroy a single Battlestar, and they would have destroyed the civilian fleet if they hadn't escaped. Cavil was even sure if the fifty ships encountered one of the supposed Earther vessels, that fifty Baseships would be able to destroy it with no issues. His arrogance was the reason why he didn't have more resurrection ships accompany his fleet. And that decision saved more Cylons from being culled.

Cavil programmed every one of his Centurions with the belief that it was the humans who boarded and killed everyone. Just before making the final jump to the Colony, Cavil activated the airlocks on all over the Basestars while isolating the control center by dropping a heavy-duty door. Every humanoid Cylon and Centurion was vented out into space from the ship while Cavil turned around and ordered one of the remaining Centurions to shoot him in the shoulder. He screamed out loud from the hot lead shooting through his shoulder ripping apart the tissue and bones before he turned and placed hi other hand in the now bloody basin.

His job was done. He knew that the other Cylons would be outraged at the Earthers just as they hated the Colonials. This massacres would lead to more aggressive moves against Colonial targets; and Cavil was happy about that. Now he had to make the final jump home.

"Jump," said Cavil. And the ship vanished in a flash of white light.

**Orbit of Ragnar Anchorage, at that same time.**

The crew of the Odyssey and the Britannia looked at the debris and bodies floating all around them out their windows. It had been only a few minutes earlier, after the final Baseship jumped away, that several of the thousand and more Raiders continued their attack on the Galactica and the Britannia. The two Earther ships were weaving in and out of the debris while using their railgun and the Odyssey's railguns to destroy the fighters while providing the Galactica cover for all her Vipers to return.

Once the giant Colonial ship was ready, it jumped to the next point on the way to the refugee planet. Then just before the Odyssey and the Britannia were due to leave the orbit of Ragnar, they received a subspace transmission from one of the cloaked F-302S's that were flying over Caprica. Natalie, General Leoben, and Triana were on the bridge when the message came though to the ship. Colonel Pendergast told Marks to relay the same message to the Britannia as he got up and walked towards the screen. The screen then activated to show Lt. Collins, the micro-camera in the fighter's cockpit pointed at his helmet.

"Odyssey, I know we have a few more hours to go before we jump into hyperspace for the Alpha Site, but our initial orbital scans have picked up some disturbing signs on the surface. I'm talking about mass graves being filled, camps being built while humans are being rounded up, and there have been signs of people being forced into buildings by those humanoid things and those chrome robots."

He then continued to say that the robots were setting up missile defence batteries in various parts of the cities, "as if they're expecting trouble, sir." He then mentioned that there were other robots and humanoid Cylons beautifying a few cities as if they were preparing it for a lengthy occupation.

"Lieutenant," said Colonel Pendergast while Tara translated for the three newcomers in the bridge. Triana and Leoben turned to Natalie, who was looking away from them towards the floor. She could sense their anger towards her while Tara continued to translate what the Lieutenant had been sending them so far.

Natalie forced her head back up while Triana and Leoben turned away from her and watched the pictures on the screen in stunned silence. As did Willow and the others; the pictures were of survivors being lined up and places in single files all over the city. Then they were being marched to various buildings; some had men and women, while several others had lines of women being marched into those buildings.

" _Something has to be done,"_ said General Leoben as he looked up at the Terrans around him. He then turned around to Colonel Pendergast and told him that they needed to get back and save those people _. "We have to go. You have a responsibility to go and help them. Your weapons and shields are…"_

"That's up to my superiors, General," said the Colonel shaking his head while, on the Britannia, Woolsey, Dr. Lang, and the others stared at the pictures that were being sent by both of the cloaked 302S's. Back in the Odyssey, Colonel Pendergast said that their orders were to not interfere in the Cylon-Colonial war, "and while these pictures may change those orders, that would be up to my superiors."

" _Can't… can't you notify the Galactica?"_ asked Natalie who was looking at the pictures. She knew that the Colonials deserved everything they were getting, but she also wanted to be on the good side of the Earthers. She still believed with all her heart that the Earthers had nothing to do with the Cylons, even though they were human, and thus wasn't deserving of their anger and hate. She knew that what had just happened over Ragnar was the Earthers defending themselves; however, she had to admit that the ferocity at which they defended themselves scared her to bits.

'Another reason to be on their good side,' thought Natalie to herself.

She knew that one way to get the Earthers to her side was to try and break her models, the Leoben models, the Sharon's, and the majority of the D'Anna's and Simons from the others If she could break off with a majority of the Cylons in regards to the war, then maybe there could be some truce.

'Yea, sure. Truce,' Natalie sarcastically thought to herself as she spoke with Colonel Pendergast while Triana and General Leoben glared at her with anger in their eyes, Natalie knew she needed to cause a split in the ranks of the humanoid Cylons, no matter how much she hated dividing her brothers and sisters. " _I… I believe we have to return to Caprica. The Cylons on Caprica will listen to reason… I mean I have a lot of allies there and the presence of the Cavil's and Doral's there are not as deeply rooted as those in the Baseships."_

"Contact the Britannia," said Colonel Pendergast after telling Lt. Collin's to continue surveillance. The Colonel then turned around and spoke with Woolsey who said that Homeworld, the SGC, and the IOA would have to talk about the next step.

"In the meantime, I believe we should leave for the refugee planet," said Woolsey while both Tara and Satterfield translated for their guests on the bridge. "Once there, we can arrange talks with the Colonials. As for the Cylons, we could talk to them after we've spoken to the Colonials. But the main deal would be to see to the safety of the last five from the Furling's world."

" _We can confirm their identities,"_ said the General nodding his head, " _but I doubt that these Colonials would even believe anything we say."_

" _Once problem at a time,"_ Triana said nodding her head before the three of them were led out by Tara, Satterfield, and Buffy.

It wasn't too long before the Galactica jumped, and then the Odyssey and Britannia opened hyperspace windows. The two ships then flew into the windows before making the two hour journey to the refugee planet.

With the Earther ships in hyperspace, the Galactica met with the rest of the Civilian fleet over fifty light years away. They had gone over the red line, the maximum distance they could jump without causing complex jump calculations to veer the ships off-course or even risk navigational hazards. Once the Galactica's jump was completed, and the ship appeared in the tail end of the fleet, The Commander ordered a check of all vessels to make sure that everyone was present and accounted for before ordering the next jump.

Since there were some ships that had a maximum range of twenty-five light years sat one time, the Galactica and several other vessels calculated their jumps to that particular limit. Once engines and fuel was check, the remnant fleet jumped once again for twenty-five light years. The Colonials had a guide post now, and were certain that it would take them several hours before they could reach the planet if they jumped continuously. The Commander also was aware that the two Raptors they had sent out would be intercepting them hours later, and so he ordered Dee to send a message telling the crew to hold off on jumping every time the fleet finished a jump.

While the fleet of Colonial ships jumped together, the Commander looked up at Apollo just as Starbuck rushed into the CIC with her arms waving excitedly.

"That was really awesome," she said as she walked up to Apollo and stood next to him with her hands on her hips. She turned to the Commander and what remained of the senior staff before saying that she wouldn't have believed it without seeing it; energy weapons and energy shields, "you can check my gun camera footage, sir. It's all there. It's science fiction made real… it's amazing."

"I believe you, Starbuck," the Commander said as he looked at the panting young woman who he guessed ran all the way to the CIC after she arrived in the hanger bay. Starbuck noticed that she was getting too excited, and losing some professionalism along the way, but she really didn't care. She had seen the impossible.

"Sir," said Starbuck as she stared at the Commander, and then nodded at the President, and then back to the Commander once again, "if we had those weapons and shields? The Cylons wouldn't have been a problem."

"I know," the Commander said before he placed a hand on Starbuck's shoulder and said that she and the other pilots did a good job. He then looked around the silent faces looking back at him as the ship jumped one more time. He nodded at all of them as they stood up and cheered.

The Commander knew that after a day of tragedy, the crew had something to celebrate… they had just won a victory with the help of fellow humans. Humans who claimed to have been from Earth, and while there was a trickle of a horrible thought in the back of his mind that this could still be a trick… the Commander let his crew have this moment. The old man then took off his glasses and turned towards the President, Apollo, Captain Kelly, and Starbuck. He whispered that the Earthers now knew the hate that the Cylons held for humanity; and the depths they would go to destroy anyone human.

"Maybe it would change their minds to helping us," said the President while Billy had crept all the way to Dee's station, and was talking to her. It was something that the Commander noticed as well, and all he could do was release a small smile. A smile that vanished when he thought about the Cylons in his cargo hold, including the ones that were supposedly the last of another race's creation.

The Commander discreetly shook his head as his mind turned to a feeling of satisfaction in that the Earthers would be able to help them beat back the Cylon threat once and for all. It was something that the Commander wanted. It was what he craved as vengeance for the unprovoked attack on the Colonies. He knew that billions of people died, and this could be the beginning of sweet revenge against the Cylons.

It would be many jumps later that the Galactica rendezvoused with two of her Raptors which were sent to the refugee planet for a reconnaissance mission.

"Racetrack, Galactica, I need to talk to Actual."

"Actual," said the Commander after he picked up the phone.

"Sir, I need to see you and Captain Adama in the pilot's lounge."

"Lieutenant?" asked the Commander with a look of confusion on his face while he stared at Apollo, "is everything alright? Have our people been injured, or…"

"The survivors are being well taken care off, sir," said Racetrack as she flew the small ship to the flight pod, "sir, it's a normal planet. But…"

"You've got people cheering, lieutenant," said the Commander as he looked at everyone celebrating as the jumped up down, while others hugged each other. He saw Starbuck and Apollo hug while he thought he glanced at Billy giving Dee a kiss. Looking away, the Commander saw the President smile at him before he refocused on Racetrack who landed her Raptor on the elevator pad that would bring her down to the hanger bay, "I need you and your wingman to meet me in the CIC."

"Sir," said Racetrack in a serious voice, "there's something you need to see. You and Captain Adama. Please… I'll have my gun camera footage loaded in the pilot's briefing room. But I need you and the Captain to be there. Just the two of you."

"Send your wingman up here, the President would like to shake his hand," said the Commander, "Captain Adama and I will meet you in the pilot's briefing room." The Commander then handed command of the CIC to Captain Kelley before telling the President that Racetrack seemed to have something urgent to show him and Apollo. The President asked if everything was alright since Racetrack sounded worried.

"I doubt it," the Commander answered. He then told the President he would be back soon; and then he and Apollo rushed towards the pilot's briefing room where they met with a panting Racetrack who told them that the gin camera footage was being loaded into the projector in the rear. The woman was panting, her forehead covered in sweat, as she waved her hands while struggling to tell the two of them that she had good news for them.

"Actually, not good… I think it's fantastic," wheezed the young woman before she bent over at the knees while Apollo walked up and patted her back before asking her to sit down. She then looked up, and smiled before saying, "after you see what I have, sirs? I think you'd be the ones wanting to sit down."

As the ship jumped another thirty light years, the gun camera footage started to roll. The three of them watched the clouds parting as the Raptor flew through the atmosphere of the planet below. Racetrack was giving them a running commentary before saying that she was finally connected through the wireless to the leader of the survivors.

"Carolanne Adama," said the woman as both Adamas' turned to her with their eyes wide open in shock.

"You… you… wait…. You talked to my mother and…?"

"She's… Lieutenant? She's alive?" asked the Commander stammering as his hands trembled while looking at the young woman, "are… are you sure?"

"Take a look for yourselves, sirs," said Racetrack as they turned around to see people getting out of their tents and looking up. Some of them waved, while others clapped for joy. But the two men in the briefing room were staring at one woman standing in front of a tent with a child in her arms.

"BY the gods," whispered the Commander as he looked at his ex-wife while Apollo cheered while he hugged Racetrack tightly. The Commander didn't hate his ex-wife, they just never were a good fit.. their marriage was more of an arrangement so that he could be reinstated into the Colonial fleet. However, their union gave them Zac and Lee Adama, and the Commander wasn't going to complain about that. However, with the Commander having to leave on missions put a strain on the relationship and, after Zac's death, reached a breaking point. They divorced, and then last thing he heard was that Carolanne was going to get married again.

As Apollo hugged him tight while cheering, the walls of the briefing room reverberating with his joy, the Commander observed that Carolanne seemed to be doing alright. He wondered what happened to her future husband, and if he was even alive. But the Commander pushed that thought to the back of his mind as he looked into his son's watery eyes.

"She's alive, Lee. She's alive."

TBC.

 


	28. Chapter 28

**Stargate Command.**

With the Galactica and the rest of the fleet supposed to reach the refugee world in another hour, SG-1 returned to Earth through the Stargate while the Odyssey was orbiting the refugee world as a measure of protection until the Galactica and her fleet entered orbit. Odyssey's guests; the Furlings and the three humanoid Cylons were being kept on board the ship for now until they received permission to head down to the surface after talks with the Colonials. In the meantime, Colonel Mitchell and the others from SG-1 travelled down to the surface through a Jumper and then they went to Earth via a third planet so that the Colonial refugees on the surface wouldn't know Earth's Stargate address. Upon reaching Stargate Command, the team and Woolsey were met by General Landry at the bottom of the ramp.

"Sir," said the Colonel as he walked down the stairs, "given that we just survived a nuclear holocaust, I'd like to be the first to say that it's good to be home."

"I'm glad to know that," the General said while Buffy, Satterfield, and Grogan stopped behind the Colonel while Willow, Tara, and Woolsey stepped off the ramp. The General then looked at the team before saying, "I want all of you to report to Dr. Fraiser. Get checked out, and then if there are no adverse effects from the radiation from our scanners, I want to meet all of you in the briefing room."

Noticing the look on the General's face, the Colonel narrowed his eyes and asked if anything had happened while they were away. Willow, though, mentally 'saw' the General looking through pictures of killings taken by the F-302S's over Caprica. The General then turned his head and looked at Willow, and nodded his head knowing that his 'loud' thoughts were received by the red haired Captain.

"There were more pictures sent by the spy planes, sir," Willow said while the General nodded his head as he looked back at the surprised Colonel.

"How many people, sir?" Buffy asked as she stepped off the ramp behind Satterfield and Grogan.

"Several mass graves, sixteen sites were the robots… the Centurions killed survivors under the watch of some of the humanoid beings. And a lot more."

"I'll need to talk to the IOA, General," said Woolsey.

"I knew you'd say that," the General replied, "we have a conference call with the President, the IOA, and General O'Neill in ten minutes." General Landry then looked at SG-1 again before ordering them to the infirmary. While they walked past him, the General told Woolsey to follow him to his office. The IOA member nodded his head before the two of them followed SG-1 out into the hallway and then, while the team continued walking down the hallway in silence, the General and Woolsey walked up the stairs to the control room, and then up the metal stairs to the briefing room above them. And finally, they stepped into the General's office.

**Colonial Refugee planet, an hour later.**

After numerous jumps, it was the final one which had gotten Commander Adama's heart racing. They were just a second away from the plane where he would be seeing his wife once again. A wife who had divorced him, a wife who was about to re-marry if not for the unprovoked attack on the Colonies by the Cylons. And now, even with the suspicion that her husband-to-be may have perished in the attack, the Commander was wondering if things could change between them once again.

It was something he had been thinking about a lot since finding out from Racetrack that his ex wife was still alive. He glanced at his son and could see how happy he was, so different than when he arrived on the Galactica with so much anger. He then glanced at the President and Billy who offered their congratulations; but the Commander could tell from Billy's expression and body language that he hoped there would be more good news in the horizon. The Commander looked around at everyone, from Dee to the officers at the Jump controls, and knew that all of them hoped that at least some of their families survived. The fact that there were some survivors on the surface of the refugee planet, and that they had met with people claiming to be from Earth, gave them hope.

'And we need hope, we need something good to look forward to.' Thought the Commander to himself. Once the ship finished it's jump, the entire atmosphere suddenly turned tense as the Commander looked to Captain Keely who was sitting on Lt. Gaeta's seat. The Commander was waiting for the man to tell him that the other ships had made the jump successfully, and that they were over the refugee planet. It took what seemed like hours before Captain Kelley stood up and turned around to say that the rest of the fleet jumped successfully, and that they were at the final coordinates.

" _This is Dr. Lang on board the Odyssey. Welcome to a new world. Commander Adama, we are still in the process of setting up more medical facilities and housing for your people. I ask that we coordinate our efforts so that those who have been badly injured receive medical attention first. As for food and water, we are having pallets of emergency rations being sent from an off-world site which could be brought up to your fleet by any cargo ships capable of landing on the surface. In the meantime, we're simply asking for a little more time before the majority of your people can breathe fresh air again."_

" _Understood,"_ said the Commander as he watched his people celebrating _._

The Commander took off his glasses and placed them on the table in front of him while Apollo yelled in joy before he hugged Starbuck who was standing right next to him. The Commander gave off a small smile as he watched the President hug Billy who then rushed to the stairs, and ran up before making a turn towards Dee's console. The young man hugged Dee while the other officers around the CIC were hugging each other and howling in joy.

Commander Adama shook the hands of the President and Captain Kelley before hugging his son and Starbuck. He then asked Apollo to set up a CAP around the fleet. Apollo nodded his head before rushing off with Starbuck to the pilots briefing room. In the meantime, the Commander, who picked up his glasses and took in a deep breath, then picked up the phone on the table and asked Dee to connect him to the entire fleet.

The still elated Dee, who was beaming from one ear to the other at having a moment of peace, connected the Commander to everyone in the fleet.

"This is Commander Adama to the fleet."

Everyone continued to cheer and dance in joy throughout the fleet at being in robot of another planet where they could be safe from Cylon attack. The cheers and joy slowly subsided while the Commander started to talk, "we have reached what could be a new home. I know that there are injured and hungry among our fleet, but I ask that you be patient." The Commander continued to say that the Colonial military would be coordinating with the Earthers on the most expedient way get people to the surface, "but in the meantime, I am ordering all ship captains to identify the badly injured and the sick. They will be provided with medical aid first. We'll coordinate with the people on the surface while having Raptor ferry the injured to get medical aid. As for food and water, the Earthers have brought emergency rations on the surface. I will be ordering one of the cargo ships to land on the surface, and then load up with the rations before distributing them among the fleet."

"Commander?" said the President as she reached out her hand and asked for the phone. The Commander nodded his head before handing it over. The woman placed the receiver onto her ear before speaking, "this is President Roslin. I know everyone of you are scared. So am I. But we cannot let that fear cause any disruptions to the distribution of the rations. All ship captains are to provide the Galactica with the number of passengers being carried. And... and like the Commander said, be patient. We're going to be safe here. And we will, with the blessings of the gods, return to the Twelve Colonies to free our fellow citizens."

The President then handed the phone back to the Commander who ordered all Captains to send him the total number of people in their ships, and to have the more serious injured ready for evacuating as soon as possible.

The Commander then put the phone down on the table and nodded his head. It was time to prepare for a fight back against the Cylons so that they could get their citizens out of harms way. He knew that the nuclear strikes would render the Colonies uninhabitable for generations, but he wanted to get as many people out as possible. He was a military man, and he hated leaving people behind.

"We're going back to the Colonies, Madam President," said the Commander as he looked Roslin who was standing across the table.

"Hopefully we can have the assistance of the Earthers," she replied, "in the meantime, maybe it's time you went to the surface to meet your wife?"

The Commander stared at the President before saying that he made a promise to the fleet that it would be the ones needing medical attention the most who would be travelling down to the surface first. "How would it look like if I went down there to fulfil a personal mission? I want to see Carolanne too, but I know she's alive, and she knows that Lee and I are alive. So, our re-union can wait."

Roslin then shook her head with a small smile on her face before reminding him that he could ask one of the pilots to pick up Carolanne from the surface, and bring her back to the Galactica, "she deserves to see you and Captain Apollo, Commander." The Commander then took in a breath before nodding his head. He then relayed an order to Racetrack to pick up his ex-wife from the surface after she makes her first trip to the surface.

It would be thirty minutes later when the first urgent request for medical transport to the surface came in to the Galactica. It would be minutes later, as more calls poured in, that all Raptors would be launched from the massive colonial vessel to make as many trips as possible to ferry the injured down to the surface.

**Stargate Command, at that same time; briefing room.**

"What you see there in your hands are the latest surveillance pictures from Caprica," said General Landry as Buffy and the others were looking at the high-resolution pictures of mass graves, bloodied streets were bodies where bodies lay dead while Centurions were firing their weapons. There were many more pictures with that same motif, while other pictures showed some of the robots guarding buildings which showed hundreds of human heat signatures within.

Colonel Mitchell then commented on other pictures that showed the chrome Centurions setting up what seemed to be surface to air missile batteries, and even heave weapons emplacements in several areas of Caprica City and Delphi. He then placed the picture on the table in front of him and looked to the other side where Willow was seated, leaning back on her seat.

"Are we planning on intervening, sir?" asked Satterfield after she put the pictures back down on the table and then turned her head towards General Landry.

"that's what we were discussing after getting those surveillance pictures," said the General as Wooley, who was seated next to him, leaned forwards and placed his arms on the table.

"The IOA and the President feel that it would take up all our resources to join in this war between the Colonials and the Cylons," Woolsey said as Grogan frowned, as did the rest of SG-1. Willow was about to say something when Woolsey interrupted her, "but the General Landry and General O'Neill are advocating some sort of limited engagement. The problem is that we still have the Wraith in Pegasus and the Lucien Alliance here, and that's not to mention the minor Goa'uld who are still scattered throughout the galaxy and then…"

"There's Ba'al," said Colonel Mitchell shaking his head while rubbing his forehead in frustration.

"We can't sit by and let this go on, can we?" asked Willow as she nodded at the pictures, "I mean, one of the humanoid Cylons, the one who defected, she did offer to help us connect with the models she knew who were a bit of the iffy side of things. The ones who would be willing to listen,"

"That could be our in," said Buffy.

"A small team," said the Colonel after thinking for a few seconds, "SG-1 with some of the backward engineered Kull armour. We could go through with Natalie, and then meet with some of her contacts. She assured us that these people would listen to reason; and yes I realise I'm using 'reason' in the same line as people classified as 'genocidal robots'."

"We'll have to bring the Colonials into this too," said the General.

"I doubt they would want to make any deals with the Cylons after what happened to their homeworlds," said Woolsey.

"I think we should still ask them," said Grogan, "but the question then becomes what if they want to send someone with us. The team would be too big. I mean if we want to have a smaller team then…."

"Well," Willow said as she leaned forward, "there could be a way to have all of us go, along with Natalie, and along with one or two Colonials."

"I doubt glamour's would work against machines, Willow," Tara said referring to a spell that would change their physical appearances, "and I'm not sure about a cloak either. There's a possibility that the Cylons could see through that, and…."

"Not a glamour or a cloak," said Buffy knowingly having remembered something the blonde was researching a year ago, "Willow's talking about the dimensional shift."

"Oh no, no, no, no," Tara shook her head wildly while everyone, except for Buffy and Willow, looked around confused before Woolsey asked Tara to explain what Buffy meant. "It's nothing. It's nothing.. it didn't work and…"

"It worked," said Buffy knowingly as she stared at Tara before leaning back and wincing slightly, "kinda."

"Kinda?" asked Satterfield.

"Well," Willow said with a pained expression on her face, "Tara experimented on an apple. You see, the theory is that the object or person could be shifted into another dimension. They would be able to see everything that's going on in this dimension, but they wouldn't be able to interact. So, let's say that someone was shifted, they would be effectively cloaked from any sensors. But the problem if the return to this dimension. Tara was unable to pull back the apple from the other dimension, and it's been there for the past year."

"It's probably rotten now," Buffy said.

"Well, yeah," the Colonel replied.

"Miss Maclay," the General said, "can you perfect this spell in the next two days?"

"General," said Tara, "there's no use for it if I can't bring someone back from the other side. They'll be trapped there for all time."

"I understand," said the General nodding his head, "but I still want you to give it a try with objects, not people." The General then turned away from Tara who stared at Willow with fear on her face, and spoke with Woolsey, "if Miss Maclay could get her spell working in a few days, would the IOA agree to a mission to Caprica where we could try ending this war. At least before more people are killed."

"I'll have to take it up with the IOA," said Woolsey, "but only if Miss Maclay's idea works."

TBC.

 


	29. Chapter 29

**Colonial Refugee Planet, thirty minutes later.**

Carolanne was with the little boy she took on as her charge, Keanan, and watched with a feeling joy in her heart as she watched four Vipers fly past them. It was only an hour ago, after several people including the redheaded woman from earlier, had been brought down from the Odyssey. She saw the group speaking to the man who was the commander of the camp before leaving through what they called the 'Gate to the Stars'.

It would be twenty minutes later that the base commander, Major Stewart Pierce and two translators approached them and updated them on a plan. He said that their people, the Tau'ri, had several off-world bases, with one of them being the Zeta site where they were making the very food rations and water the Colonials had been eating and drinking. He said that pellets of those emergency rations would be coming to the planet through the 'Gate to the Stars' momentarily, and that he would like volunteers to organize the rations that were coming in.

"It would be good to feel useful," Carolanne had said earlier, "and it wouldn't be right for your people to do everything for us." Carolanne then looked at the others who nodded in agreement before turning to the Major as asking what needed to be done. While the Major briefed them on the amount of rations that were coming in, he also mentioned that there would be better living areas that would be brought in from the Zeta site. He explained that these living areas needed to be constructed. He told them that the construction would be simple, and that the end product would be sturdy enough to withstand years of wear and capable of holding up to three people .

"And then, with your leaders, we can decide on a more permanent fix," said the Major through a translator, "for now, lets start organising the rations." However, what he did not mention; in fact, what he did not know was the location of the Zeta Site. No one but the head of homeworld security, the President of the United States, the IOA, the SGC Commander, and the Chair of the Joint Chiefs knew about the location of the planet.

The Zeta Site was a vast underground complex that had been in constructed with the help of the Asgard. It's primary role was to provide items that were meant for consumption and medical use, but no weapons, in the ongoing refugee crisis that began on Earth a little more than year ago. The complex was controlled by the Asgard since they did not want to have the six replication pedestals; the devices which turned raw materials into whatever form the Asgard desired, fall under the control of humans who may co-opt the technology to make powerful weapons.

That was the Asgards condition once they were asked to help with the Zeta site.

In the meantime, the SGC would provide the manpower, while the Asgard would provide the technology. The rations were created in the lowest level of the complex, and then beamed up to a storage area where workers would start sorting and storing the rations in pellets within a climate controlled underground warehouse. When it came time for the pellets to be moved, several humans would be working at the same time to get the pallets onto anti-gravity rollers that would take them through the Stargate to the Colonial refugee planet. Or to any other place in the Galaxy that needed aid- including some Jaffa held worlds that needed help getting back up to their feet.

The Jaffa, in returned, loaned the SGC a few modified Al'Kesh to transport the massive pellets from the planet the Zeta site was located, to Earth where the cloaked ships would ring the pellets down into specifically made warehouses in Petersons, Vandenberg, and several other bases. From there, the rations would be distributed to where they needed to go. Rations were constantly being created for use on Earth and in various other planets, and production was ramped up once Racetrack left orbit of the planet several hours ago.

Soon after Carolanne and the other Colonial refugees were told of the incoming rations and housing units, the first pellets of nearly ten thousand boxes of rations were sent through the Stargate. She and the other Colonials, as well as the Tau'ri personnel, then got to work.

It would be hours later, after the rations were nearly sorted, that she and the other colonial refugees were informed that the Galactica and a fleet of over seventy Colonial ships had appeared over the planet. It was news that brought bursts of joy as Carolanne placed a hand on her chest while holding Keanan with the other hand. She then looked down at the boy and smiled with tear stained eyes before looking back at the Earther officer who brought the news to them.

Several minutes later, several Raptors landed on the surface with injured, and the medical staff went into action immediately. Carolanne watched from her tent, after having changed her clothes into a pair of sweatpants and a shirt provided by the Earther, as injured were being helped out of the Raptors and taken to medical tents. She watched men and women, young and old, who were bleeding and battered being examined when she heard her name being called out in the distance.

Turning to her left, she saw a woman in a Colonial flight suit standing next to one of the translators. The young man was waving at her before he turned to the Colonial woman and nodded his head. The Colonial than dashed onwards her while Carolanne, curious about what was happening, walked towards the woman who soon introduced herself as Racetrack. Carolanne smiled, having remembered the conversation with the pilot earlier that day, as she shook her hand.

"The Commander wishes he could have come down," said Racetrack, "but he didn't want to give the fleet the impression that his needs were more important than the rest of the fleet."

"He always has a sense of duty," Carolanne said as she looked at the little boy in her arms who was looking at Racetrack with a smile on his face, and a wave. Racetrack waved back while Carolanne thought that the Commander not coming down in a time of crisis was very much like the man she knew. Carolanne shook her head while telling herself that it was the man's sense of duty that attracted her to him in the first place, 'and I've had problems myself. He took duty too far, leaving me alone, the kids alone; but I drank too much. So, if he has a duty to carry out, then he has a duty to carry. And right now? Right now, our people need a person they could rally behind.'

"Ma'am," said Racetrack as she tried to shake Carolanne out of the faraway look in her eyes. The older woman shifted her gaze back to Racetrack, "the Commander ordered me to fly you to the Galactica. You and.. well, if the boy is…"

"His parents were… you know… killed in the nuclear blast," said Carolanne looking at Keanan, and then smiled at him before looking away, "he's been with me ever since that day.".

"I'll inform the Commander on the way up to the Galactica," said Racetrack nodding her head. Carolanne then turned to Keanan and asked him if he would like to be on a Battlestar. And the boy nodded his head wildly with the earlier smile getting wider and wider.

Carolanne then turned back to Racetrack and said she was ready to go. She then followed Racetrack while holding Keanan's hand up to the Raptor. The three of them got in while the smell of blood and antiseptic wafted around the rear of the Colonial vessel. Racetrack then tightened the harness around the boy when he took a seat, while Carolanne sat down across from him while her heart raced at the thought of seeing Apollo and her ex-husband once again. A few seconds later, Racetrack sat in the pilot's seat after closing the rear door while Carolanne gently told Keanan not to be scared. The pilot then called the Galactica on the wireless and reported that she had collected the 'package', and was on her way back to the ship before resuming her medical run.

"Hold on," yelled Racetrack to Carolanne and Keanan as the vessel shook for a few second while the thrusters pushed the ship off the ground. The little boy continued to smile as the ship rose before the rear thrusters fired and the Raptor shot straight up into the sky.

It would be two minutes later that the Raptor left the planet's atmosphere and entered orbit, and the it headed straight for the Galactica. Laying her eyes on the Colonial warship and the fleet the surrounded it, Carolanne felt a sense of warmth go through her. It was pride at knowing that a symbol of their worlds still existed. She thought about the Commander and Apollo once again, and wondered what they would say when they saw Keanan who leaned his body sideways so that he could look on with wide eyed wonder as the Raptor entered the flight pod. Carolanne chuckled at the amazement etched on his face, and then she turned on the seat and stared out through the forward view port.

At the same time, she was sifting through her memories for the earlier events that kept her alive. And that included the ability of the blonde woman calling herself Tara, who saved her, Keanan and several others using a strange ability. She then remembered the shorter blonde who managed to, almost effortlessly, tear a piece of rebar from concrete with her bare hands, and destroy centurions with those same bare hands as well. And then there were the burns suffered by the redheaded woman, and the fact that her arms were healing in front of the eyes of the survivors after they boards the heavy raider.

There were a lot of things she needed to tell her remaining family as the Raptor landed on an elevator, and was moving downwards in to the hanger deck. She didn't know how the Commander and Apollo would take what she had to say; but she was thankful. However, she had no idea how to explain away the woman, Dr. Fraiser, who looked just like Evelyn Adama… the Commander's mother. Or how it was that Satterfield looked like one of the Cylons who had human forms.

As the ship entered the hanger deck, Carolanne wondered if the Commander knew about the Cylons having human-like forms. She then wondered if there were Cylons who infiltrated the fleet. However, she shook her head once the ship jerked to a stop. She saw Racetrack taking off the harness on her seat, and so Carolanne took off hers as well and then got up to take off Keanan's harness. In the meantime, Racetrack rushed past her with a smile and opened the rear door just as Keanan got off the seat and stood on the deck plating of the Raptor.

Carolanne looked out the door to the brightly lit hanger bay which was buzzing with people yelling at each other while machines whirred. She saw Raptors being taken to other elevators for launch, while several other Vipers were being taken to their launch tubes. She scanned the area, and then she rested her sights on two people walking towards her.

It was he ex-husband, and her son.

"Mom!" yelled Apollo as he ran as fast as he could while his father strode behind him. He ran up the wing of the Raptor and hugged Carolanne tightly. "By the gods you're safe. You're safe."

"I was… I thought that you…" Carolanne's eyes immediately filled with tears as she wrapped her arms tight around her son, "you're safe, Lee." She felt Apollo's hand on the back of her head before he pulled back and looked into her eyes. They then hugged once again as the Commander walked up to the edge of the wing. He saw mother and son hugging each other, Carolanne's arms tight around her son while tears streamed down her cheeks from closed eyes. It was then that the old man noticed movement inside the ship. He stepped to the side and saw a nervous little boy holding onto the edge of the Raptor's entrance while Racetrack was standing next to him.

He then looked up at Carolanne who stepped back from Apollo and wiped her eyes dry before she kissed his cheek. She then looked down at the Commander, and gave a small smile. He raised his hand, which she grasped, and then he helped her down onto the deck while Apollo was greeting the newcomer as he crouched down and introduced himself to Keagan.

"Bill," said Carolanne as tears gathered in her eyes again. The two of them didn't say anything at all, instead, they hugged each other tight. Before closing his eyes as he took in his wife's warmth against his uniform, he saw Racetrack talking to Apollo who was heading down the wing of the Raptor and onto the deck. As for Racetrack, she stared at the Commander and his family for a few more seconds before she went back into her ship.

She had a job to do.

**Stargate Command, two days later; 0500 hours.**

Tara lay on a bed in her quarters in the base since she didn't want to go home until she had found a way to send something through what she called the dimensional veil, it was a magical barrier that separated this dimension from a parallel dimension that was closest to the one they were living in. It was there that she already sent tables, chairs, cake, Jell-O, exercise equipment, and various other materials in the hope that she could be able to bring it back to their own dimension.

Of course, there was always the possibility that she couldn't retrieve the items because she was sending them to a hell dimension instead. But she nixed that argument by telling herself that the research she had done over the past year was only meant to access a harmless dimension. She kept that thought to herself, not wanting to worry Willow, Buffy, or the others in SG-1. She didn't want to worry General Landry who would have pulled the plug on the work she had been doing the past day or so.

However, she was unsuccessful and the deadline was coming up. They were supposed to head to the refugee planet for initial talks with the Colonial survivors on the next steps to be taken, and it would be there that General O'Neill wanted to come up with a combined recon mission to Caprica. They had received more pictures form their recon F-302S's before they left orbit, and the situation had been getting from bad to worse with forced labour being used to rebuild cities and towns, while more survivors were being killed on the streets.

Back in her quarters, Tara closed her eyes and wondered what could be keeping her from retrieving the objects she sent to the other dimension. She thought deeply for a few minutes, and concentrated on her breathing, when she snapped her eyes open and shot out of bed. She hurriedly put on her fuzzy pink slippers while picking up the phone and calling Willow who was in her lab, and then rushed out of her quarters. She headed for the room where she had set up recording equipment yesterday. It was where she conducted the magical 'experiment' with wiccan and occult symbols having been drawn on the floor where any object would be placed so that it could be shifted to the other dimension.

'It was right there. The answer was so simple that it was right there,' thought Tara to herself as she ran through the hallways.

TBC.

 


	30. Chapter 30

**Stargate Command, ten minutes later.**

Tara strode out of the elevator car, the bottoms of her fuzzy shippers scuffling against the floor, as she made another turn into an empty hallway after getting off the elevator. The SGC was mostly empty since it was early morning and there were either people who had not yet come in yet or they were off-world. Tara made another turn toward a large steel door. She then reached for, and pressed a code into the panel next to the door and then slid a card through the reader to the right side of the panel. She then took a few steps left and watched as the door slid aside before walking into the darkness beyond.

With the overhead fluorescent light from the hallway barely lighting the entrance to the room, Tara reached for the button on the wall to her right and then pressed a switch. Doing so turned on the lights as she walked into the large lab and looked up at the darkened observation deck. She then walked past the sigils drawn onto the floor and head towards a long table against the wall across from the observation window. Tara then where there were a bank of three computers she switched on. The computers were connected to various sensors around the room while another separate computer was connected to a digital video camera resting on a tripod.

She then turned on the camera while glancing at all the other knick-knacks in the room that were due to be used as inanimate guinea pigs. These included small metallic boxes with trackers, three spherical MALP's, chairs, and folded tables. Once the camera was turned on, Tara stepped in front of it and started her log something she did before each test.

"It's…" Tara then glanced at the clock on the wall before looking back into the camera once again, "zero five hundred and fifteen hours. I've been trying to sleep for the past two hours, but the question of why I can't bring the test objects back is lying heavy in my head. There has to be a reason why the stuff I sent to the other dimension can't be pulled back even with the magical tracer."

It was last night that Tara believed the reason she couldn't pull back the objects sent to the other dimension was because there was nothing to hold on to for her magic. There was nothing for her magic to 'focus' on, even with the technological trackers that were attached to the objects, and so she was unable to bring it back. She devised a magical 'tracer' that would be imprinted on the objects before being sent through to the other dimension. However, she was still unsuccessful, and the sensors were not able to gain a fix on the trackers affixed to the objects.

Back in the present, Tara stared into the lens and asked, "What if the tracer isn't the key," before taking a deep breath while her fingers were fidgeting with each other, "what if the spell caster is the only one who can travel to the other side. What if the being who is transported for this side to the other side has to cast the spell to return from the other side. It sounds dangerous, and a little ridiculous, but we've sent chairs, tables, MALPs, transponders to the other side. Name it… we sent it.. but we never got it back."

Tara then stepped back excitedly and held up a forefinger from each hand and then pointed at herself, "But what if what's needed is a soul? What if a living breathing man or woman is the only one that can cross over? This is the experiment. This is what I want to know."

Tara knew the risks, the biggest one being that she could be stuck on the other side without any way of coming back. 'I imprint the tracer on myself, and then I'll write down the spell for Willow in case I can't get back after a few minutes. Yeah that could work.'

Tara then stopped the recording when she looked over her shoulder and heard hurried footsteps coming towards her lab. After turning off the camera, she turned around to Willow in a pair of sweat pants and a regulation undershirt walking into the room while yawning. Tara knew that the redhead had work to do, so she had stayed up late to finish it while the others were back home. They were due back to Cheyenne in a few hours for the meeting on the refugee planet with Woolsey and General O'Neill accompanying SG-1.

"Hey," Willow said wiping her eyes with her back of her left hand while, at the same time, taking a mental scan of the surrounding area to make sure that there were no people. She then pressed the button on the wall and closed the door behind her before she walked towards Tara who was behind the camera. She walked past the sigils on the floor, and then past the camera, grabbed Tara's hands before giving her a quick kiss on her cheek. Willow then stepped back while Tara pulled her to one of the computers on the table, "what's up? You sounded excited on the phone."

"I think I know how to cross over, and then cross back here," said Tara, a statement that lifted the sides of Willow's lips before asking for more details. Tara, visibly excited, said that it would be possible for a human being to go to the other side, "and then whoever gets sent there has to cast the spell again to get back."

"And who's…"

"I'm gonna be the test," Tara interrupted Willow who stared back at her while pursing her lips, the smile immediately vanishing.

"No," Willow said shaking her head as she held Tara's hands tight, "no, you're not using yourself as a test subject, and…"

"There's someone else you know here who's a witch?" Tara looked quizzically at Willow who then responded.

"Yeah, me," Willow stated, "I may not be up to date of the current magical trends and…"

"You haven't trained in years," Tara reminded Willow.

"I'll do it," the redhead insisted, "I'll take the risk, and…"

"I'm more experienced," Tara countered as Willow shook her head.

"I…"

Tara then chuckled while placing a hand on the redhead's cheek before saying, "Honey, you haven't done a big spell like this in a long time. And besides…"

"There is no besides," Willow shook her head while speaking in a stern tone, "you are not going. This was a long shot, Tara. A huge long shot and the General knows it. We'll still go on the recon mission, but maybe in two groups, or…"

"We're talking about a planet where there's a genocide that's still happening, Will," Tara said shaking her head, "we need to know exactly what's going on without anyone watching over our shoulders. The only way to do that, while another team is talking with Natalie's contacts, is for another team to cross-over to the other side. We can then move freely so that we'll be able to check out what's going on, maybe even take pictures or video."

Willow frowned at her wife while shaking her head. But she knew that Tara was right. If workable by the time of the meeting, the plan was to have a team crossed over into the other dimension that would follow the primary team to the refugee planet. From there, they would be sent to Caprica once the Britannia activated the abandoned spherical MALP's self-destruct system.

The Stargate was buried in the museum, and it was hoped that the explosion would clear the debris from the Gate. The teams would then activate the Stargate before walking through the Gate with Natalie and, perhaps, two Colonial officers while the crossed over teams went off to investigate some sites that had been marked on the pictures taken by the spy planes.

And if the primary team encountered any problems, the hidden team would be able to regroup and then act as back-up. But, as Willow stared at Tara, the redhead started to get worried.

"And what if you don't…"

"I'm coming back," Tara whispered as she looked into her eyes. Willow could see the determination in Tara's eyes and knew that her mind was fixed. Willow then sighed before nodding her head as Tara stepped back.

"Take a camera, and put on one of the under suits for the Kull Warrior armour," Willow said as she walked towards the phone, "I'll place some sensors on the under suit, and a tracker. And…"

"But…"

"We may not be able to detect it when you get to the other side," said Willow picking up the phone with her left hand while staring at Tara, "but we may be able to pick up biological signals. You'll also take a subspace radio with you… maybe it'll work, maybe it won't, but I'll feel better if you have it. No arguments."

Before Tara could answer, Willow placed the receiver onto her ear and then spoke, "this is Captain Rosenberg, I need one Kull Warrior under suit, a tracker, a full biometric sensor package, a subspace radio, and a digital video camera. Send them down to Lab Eight." Willow then put the phone down and frowned at Tara.

"I can do this," Tara said.

"You better tell me the spell I need to cast to get you back," Willow said as Tara nodded her head.

It took another thirty minutes for a technician to bring a cart of the items that Willow requested. Once the cart was brought in, Willow told the young man to leave. Once he left the room, Willow closed the metal door shut to the room once again while Tara leaned over the cart. There were two metal cases that she opened while Willow pressed another button on the wall that slowly descended a metal plate over the observation window for privacy.

Willow then walked over to and stood next to Tara before reaching down and taking out the various sensors. She placed them gently on the table while Tara took out a laptop, a video camera, and an ear wig. She placed them on the cart while Willow inspected the sensors while Tara turned on the camera to make sure the battery had a full charge and that there was a memory card with enough space to record at least Fifteen minutes of video.

"Tara, I'm turning on the camera," said Willow with Tara nodding her head as she strolled the short distance to the camera on the tripod and turned it on. She walked over to the bank of computers and activated the sensors while Tara turned to face her wife as she went down from one computer to another. The blonde just stared at the redhead with a smile on her face staring at the latter who was bent at the waist while typing on the keyboard.

Willow, sensing that she was being watched, looked over her shoulder at Tara leaning against the cart with a smirk on her face. Chuckling before looking back at the screens in front of her, Willow then straightened up upon making sure that the sensors in the room and the biometric sensors that were going to be attached to Tara were connected. Turning around and then walked over to Tara, the redhead leaned forward and reached behind the witch, their lips brushing slightly before Willow pulled back with a grin and a device in her hand, "I take it you liked the view?"

"What's not to like?" Tara Joked before Willow leaned in, kissed her, and then pulled back while holding onto Tara's left hand. The redhead lifted it up, and then attached a rubberized ring around her wrist. The ring contained a tracker which was connected to the computers in the room. Once Tara had put it on, Willow looked over her shoulder and saw Tara, represented by a blue dot' appeared on the screen in a representation of the room they were standing. "There I am."

"Yep," said Willow reaching back behind Tara, and then grabbing a few more items; small circular pellets that she attached to Tara's neck and chest while the third device went to the back of her neck. All the while Willow was staring into Tara's eyes as the computers beeped once each sensor came online and data was being transmitted. Tara looked over Willow's shoulder at the 'beep' of her heart beat which was racing while the redhead stood so close to her. "Someone's also really excited," Willow chuckled as Tara shifted her eyes back to the redhead.

Tara grinned before she turned around and picked up the digital video camera. Turning back around, Tara held Willow's hand and they walked over to the circle of sigils on the floor. She then leaned into Willow who was standing facing her and whispered the spell into her ear. "But give me fifteen minutes before you cast it, Will," Tara said pulling back while gently pushing Willow out of the circle of sigils.

"You have fifteen minutes," Willow said nodding her head. Tara then closed her eyes and silently mouthed words as a green glow surrounded her. Willow stood by and watched and the green glow then coalesced into a sphere whose surface was rippling. The sphere then shot inside Tara who glowed for a few more seconds before it faded. Tara opened her eyes and took in a few deep breaths before clasping her hands together at her chest. She started to mumble a spell in English as the air around her and Willow started to chill. The redhead knew what was happening, it was the exact same thing that happened when Tara would send test objects to the other side. Willow anted as the temperature dropped eve n more while the sigils on the floor illuminated a light green colour.

Suddenly, the air around Tara rippled, and then she vanished. And Willow was left alone in the room at the temperature rose and she stared at the spot where Tara had once been standing. Frowning, the redhead immediately made a call to Buffy to meet her in the room, and then she called the Control Room and had the technician on duty contact General Landry and Colonel Mitchel, "get them here, now."

Willow then turned and rushed to the computers which showed no sign of Tara on the screen; not her location, or her heartbeat, her breathing, brain activity. Nothing.

Willow, her heart racing, then picked up the subspace radio and clicked on the transmitter button, "Tara, can you hear me?"

There was no response.

"Tara, baby, can you hear me? Do you copy?"

Willow's heart felt as if it would jump out of her chest as she stared at the empty space while her arms were by her side. She lifted the hand holding the radio, and then was about to send another message when static came through. Willow stared at the speaker grilles on the device and mumbled, "come on, answer."

**The Other Side, a few seconds ago.**

It was a few seconds ago that Tara felt something pull her backwards once she finished the spell. It was as if a rope was lassoed through her very soul, and then pulled hard. She remembered stepping back as the air around her rippled and tore. She remembered stumbling backwards before falling on her back. She then felt herself being dragged back along the floor by an unseen force before stopping just as she was about to hit a chair laying on its side.

As she slowly got to her feet, Tara stared in amazement at the various devices, at the tables, at the chairs, the MALPs- everything that they had sent to the other side was still intact but strewn all over the room.

And in front of her stood Willow who was on the phone calling Buffy and then the Control Room. After the redhead placed the phone down on the cradle once again, she turned towards Tara and took a few steps forward before reaching for her radio.

Tara, for her part, looked away and stared in amazed at her surroundings. She was still the room but everything was tinted in yellow. She looked at her arms, her tank-top, and then at the black ring around her wrist… they were all tinted yellow.

"Wow," she whispered to herself before looking up at Willow who called for her through the radio twice. Shaking her head, Tara then responded, "I can see you... I really can see you, Will." However, Willow stared at her radio before looking right back up at Tara. However, Tara could tell thatWillow was looking straight through her. Tara took in a few deep breaths when she realised that Willow couldn't see her, hear her… and it went the other way." For a moment, Tara felt truly alone at not being able to be heard or seen.

She took in a few more deep breaths and then exhaled slowly. Tara then walked to Willow and placed a hand gently on Willow's cheek. The blonde was surprised that Willow's eyes opened wide and she brought her left hand to her left cheek while whispering, "Tara?"

"Yea," Tara said as Willow's hand went through her hand. It was as if Tara's hand was in a phased state from Willow's dimension, Tara could touch Willow, but Willow's couldn't see or touch Tara.

Willow, from her perspective, closed her eyes and took in the sensation of Tara's hand on her cheek. She then felt another hand on her right cheek before feeling the sensation of both hands lifting off her skin.

"This is so weird and kinda cool," Willow said to nothingness as she stared directly in front of her. Willow put her hand out in front of her, and felt nothingness. She waved her hand which was. in reality, going through Tara's face while wondering aloud, "Tara, I can't feel you, but…" Willow stopped moving her arm when she felt Tara's hand around her wrist. Willow closed her eyes when she felt the sensation of a pair of lip's gently kissing her wrist. Willow then whispered as she stared at the spot on her wrist where it felt as if a thumb was rubbing circles, "you can feel me."

"This is cool," Tara said as she gently put Willow's arm down by her side. She could already see the wheels turning in Willow's head on reasons why the interaction was only one way. Tara grinned at Willow before she patted her shoulder, and then physically turned her body… much to Willow's surprise. Tara, after turning Willow towards the computers, then dashed for the table and shook it. Tara wanted to see if she could interact with the small things around the room… and she could.

Tara shook the table… in turn shaking the computers as Willow dashed to the camera. She took it off the tripod and then held it while recording the shaking table and computers.

"Tara, can you type something?" asked Willow.

And Willow pointed the camera at the screen which had changed its view to the desktop, and then the arrow in the screen moved while the mouse moved on its own. "Just for the record, I am not… I repeat not using any of my powers for this." Willow then pointed the lens of the camera at herself, "I swear. It's not me." Turning the camera around once again, a word processing program was then activated and different keys on the keyboard were being pressed.

"I'm here, Willow," Willow whispered as she watched the words being typed on the screen, "this is so cool."

"Honey," Willow said as she looked at the computer, and then she looked around, "you better have some good video." The typing then stopped. Tara, having been recording everything until now, placed the camera she was holding on the floor, and then dashed to the overturned chairs. She picked one up and threw it against the wall… but Willow still stood by without any sign she heard the thud of the chair hitting the wall and then falling to the floor. Tara then picked up the camera once again and dashed to the door to the room, and pressed her hand against the solid metal door.

"So, I can feel anything physical," said Tara to herself while Willow was staring at the computer and then she spun around and searched for any sign of the blonde witch. 'Now the question is how many people can I bring to the other side, and… well… the first issue is if I can get back.' Tara took a few more minutes of video before she wondered if she needed to head back to the location of the sigils. 'We won't have the sigils off-world, so I need to try getting back without standing within the circle of symbols.'

So Tara stepped up to Willow and stood behind her while the redhead asked for Tara to give some kind of a sign. Tara chuckled before closing her eyes and whispering the spell. She felt the same chill and pull, and once she opened her eyes once the spell was over. Tara found herself stumbling back into the real world just as the doors slid open.

At the sounds of the door opening, Willow turned around to find Tara stumbling back out of a ripple in the air. Tara was about to fall onto the floor when she was caught by Buffy who grabbed her, and then steadied her while Willow rushed towards them.

"Hey," Buffy said as she felt Tara's icy skin, "where were you? In a snow storm or something?" Buffy joked as Tara shivered before she and Willow lead the witch to a wall and leaned her against it while Willow mentally grabbed a chair and pulled it towards her. Willow then unfolded it while a confused Buffy helped the shivering Tara to the chair and sat her down. "What just happened?"

"Tara did it," Willow whispered.

"I.. I… I.." Tara chattered her teeth since her body felt like it had come out of a freezer. She looked up at Buffy and managed a smile, "the.. the other side… I.. I was there."

"It worked?" asked Buffy as she started to think tactically.

"We... we have our r... recon... team," Tara's teeth shattered.

"Let's get you warmed up, Tara," Buffy said as Willow rushed to the phone and called for medical assistance.

TBC.

 


	31. Chapter 31

**Stargate Command, three minutes later.**

The nurses and Dr. Fraiser rushed into the testing room to find Tara seated down on a chair shivering with a blanket around her body. Buffy was crouching in front of her and holding her hands while Willow was standing behind her. The redhead's hands were raised to Tara's back as she used her telekinesis to vibrate the air molecules a few inches over Tara's back. So, by the time the medical team rushed in, there were two balls of light giving off gentle heat to help warm Tara floating over her back.

Dr. Fraiser nodded at Willow and Buffy and then looked down at Tara whose teeth were chattering. Tara glanced up at the doctor while taking slow and shallow breathes. It was then that Dr. Fraiser reached down and gently grabbed Tara's ice-cold wrist. Dr. Fraiser looked at Tara in surprise at how hold her skin was to the touch, and then turned to Willow and Buffy, and then she looked over her shoulder at the sigils and the active computers. The doctor then turned back to Tara while feeling her pulse and muttered, "her pulse is very weak."

She then crouched down and took out her flash light and shone it into Tara's eyes. And the results worried the doctor. From the ice-cold skin, to the chattering teeth, to the weak pulse, and the look of confusion on Tara's face; Dr. Fraiser thought it impossible but it seemed as if Tara was suffering some form of hypothermia. She pushed the thought to the back of mind, thinking to herself that she needed to be sure before saying anything out loud.

Instead, the doctor got to her feet and ordered the nurses to put Tara on the gurney and then take her immediately to the infirmary. She then rushed out of the testing room with Tara and the nurses, with Willow and Buffy following closely behind. Willow's heart raced as the group ran through the hallways. Tara's body temperature was markedly low when she came back and was immediately given warm intravenous solution by the medical team when they rushed in to bring her body temperature back up to normal.

Dr. Fraiser asked for Tara to be given some privacy, and that enabled both Willow and Buffy to head back to their quarters in a hurry. The both of them took their showers, changed, and then immediately rushed back to the hallway outside the infirmary to wait for any news on Tara's condition.

The entire time they were waiting, Buffy held onto Willow's arm.

It wasn't until Dr. Fraiser walked out of the infirmary that Willow and Buffy realized they had been holding their breaths. The doctor nodded at them with a smile before she called them to her office. Willow was motioning towards the double doors that led to the infirmary, and was about to ask if she could see Tara when she was interrupted.

Guessing what the redhead was going to ask, Dr. Fraiser reassured Willow that Tara was going to be fine. The doctor told the two of them that Tara's body was being warmed up by the intravenous solution, and that she was exhausted.

"Let's give her some time to rest," the doctor said before she motioned the two of them towards her office. Buffy and Willow nodded their heads before the Doctor took the lead. The heels of her shoes 'click-clacking' on the floor of the hallway outside the infirmary as she walked towards her office. Just before leaving the infirmary doors, Willow and Buffy peeked in through the glass windows and saw nurses putting the finishing touches on the currently unconscious Tara who had an oxygen mask over her mouth. Before they left, the two of them saw leads being attached under Tara's tank top, and immediately the monitor to the left of the bed came to life with wavy lines and various other numbers.

"Willow, Buffy," Dr Fraiser said looking back over her shoulder at the two of them. From the tone of her voice, Willow and Buffy knew that she wasn't happy. Willow and Buffy looked at each other, Willow mentally telling Buffy that she felt Dr. Fraiser was disappointed in the both of them. "We need to talk." The doctor then continued to walk onwards as Buffy and Willow both gulped before they continued following the doctor to her office.

"Okay," Dr. Fraiser said closing the door after Willow and Buffy walked in. She walked past the both of them and around her table. She took off her white coat and then hung it on a hanger in the corner of the room behind her desk. Turning around with a frown on her face and her hands on her hips- body language that Buffy and Willow were aware meant that the doctor was pissed. "What the hell happened?"

Buffy and Willow looked at each other, and then back at the doctor.

"Well?" Dr. Fraiser demanded in a stern voice that was kept low. Her eyes were narrowed at the both of them, looking between both Buffy and Willow. "Her temperature was approaching hypothermia. If you didn't call us when you did? If we were a bit late?" The doctor then sighed and shook her head not wanting to think about what could have happened, especially when they found Tara's lips and fingers had a blueish tint. And that's exactly what Dr. Fraiser told the both of them before Willow and Buffy exchanged glances at each other. "I need to know what happened in that room. And I need to know now."

Willow began explaining what happened while Dr. Fraiser listened. She talked about Tara's idea, and how she believed that only a living being could return from the other dimension. Willow then mentioned that Buffy didn't know anything about the impromptu test until the former called her. Willow said that all precautions were taken.

"But we still have Tara on a hospital bed," Dr. Fraiser reminded Willow.

"We couldn't have known this would happen, doc," Buffy said while Willow looked away and wondered to herself why she and Tara didn't call any medical personnel to back them up in the testing room. Frowning at her lack of judgement, Willow looked back up at the doctor and admitted that she had made a mistake.

"Yes," the doctor said with a sigh as she took a seat while motioning Buffy and Willow to take a seat as well. "I'll have to report this to General Landry, Willow."

"I understand," Willow responded as her thoughts went back to Tara.

**Briefing Room, SGC, four hours later.**

Once General Landry and the rest of SG-1 returned to the mountain an hour after Tara was taken to the infirmary, they were informed of what happened. The General was informed of Tara's medical condition and the near hypothermia she went through, while Willow and Buffy informed Colonel Mitchel and the others about what happened.

Colonel Mitchell later took Willow to one side and privately told her that while he was glad the test was successful, the both of them should have waited, "and there should have been medical staff in the room. It was pure luck that Tara's going to recover, Red."

"I know, sir," Willow whispered at the man in front of her, "it won't happen again."

The Colonel then sighed before telling Willow to write out her report. He would talk to General Landry before calling for a briefing. Willow nodded her head before she rushed out while the Colonel called for Buffy and himself to look through the surveillance pictures they had of Caprica. He then turned to Satterfield and Grogan before ordering them to join him and Buffy.

It would be three hours later that Tara was still lying in the infirmary. Her temperature was normal now, her breathing normalized enough that she didn't need the oxygen mask anymore, and she was shivering. It was thirty minutes earlier that she recognized Willow and Buffy, and talked for a few minutes before the two of them had to leave so that Tara could rest. And Buffy and Willow had to meet the others in the briefing room.

In the briefing room, Willow stood next to the television describing everything that she recorded until the end of the experiment when Tara appeared behind her. Willow then showed them the video that Tara took from the 'other side', and the group was amazed by the sight of the items that were sent through earlier, from tables to MALP's.

Once the video was over, Willow turned off the monitor and then turned to the others who had blue coloured folders in front of them. All of them were open with papers and surveillance photos spread out in front of each personnel; from Generals Landry, to Satterfield were looking at the report and the pictures. Dr. Fraiser was there as well to give her medical opinion if Tara would be available to travel for the mission to Caprica.

"So, would it be possible for Tara to bring in more than one person into this parallel dimension" asked General Landry as Willow took her seat next to Buffy and nodded her head.

"She told me it's possible when Buffy and I talked to her before the briefing," Willow answered before explaining that they would feel the same pull as Tara did, and may even be dragged across the ground in the parallel dimension before they could regain their balance. "And she told me that she wants in on any mission that's approved, since she's needed to cast the spell."

"Doctor?" asked the General as he turned to Dr. Fraiser.

"When we got to Tara, she was in a state of near hypothermia," Dr. Fraiser said shaking her head, "I can't tell If that happened because she simply returned to this dimension the way this spell was cast, or because she returned without wearing anything that could have prevented that much heat loss from her body. In short, I don't know. Even though her body functions are normal, I'd prefer if she rested for a few more days."

"The more we wait, the more people die on Caprica," Colonel Mitchel said leaning forward.

"Will?" Buffy asked turned to the redhead, "can you cast a spell to get us into the other dimension?"

"I think I could," Willow said, "I mean… I offered to be the guinea pig but Tara insisted on casting the spell on herself."

"You don't sound too sure," Satterfield said.

"I…" Willow then sighed before explaining that she wasn't sure if she could, "Tara was right when I offered to be the Guinea pig, she's got more experience than me in casting spells. So… yeah."

"Dr. Fraiser?" asked the General, "is Tara able to go on a mission?"

"She's alert, she's cognisant of where she is, who she is, her pulse has gone back to normal, and… well… in short? Yes." The doctor answered looking at the General, "but I still recommend that she rest a couple of days."

"I'll talk to the IOA and Homeworld about having the mission in two days," said General Landry as he sat back on his seat. He turned his head to Willow and ordered her to work with Dr. Fraiser on a way to prevent heat loss from the body. Willow nodded her head, along with Dr. Fraiser, before General Landry turned back to Buffy, Satterfield, and Grogan, "work with Colonel Mitchell and pick designated targets for closer surveillance."

"We'll need the Colonials and the Cylons on the Odyssey to help out with figuring out important areas," Colonel Mitchell said as he looked at one picture after another, "and I doubt they would want to work together on this. Even if they do? It'll be hard just trying to get them killing each other."

"We have time to come up with a plan," the General said referring to the delay in sending a team to Caprica, "I'll talk to the IOA and Homeworld about a peace mission through the Stargate. In the meantime, get a plan ready in case we're approved."

"And if we're not, sir?" asked Grogan.

"Then we move on to our next mission," the General said, "we may delay the initial talks between the IOA, Homeworld, and the Colonials on what steps could be taken now that their homes are basically irradiated. That was supposed to be later today."

The General then stood up, followed by the others, before he dismissed everyone, "all of you have your jobs. Get to it."

"Yes, sir," the group said.

"Colonel Mitchell, I want a set of locations, and a tactical assessment as soon as possible."

"Yes, sir," the Colonel said.

"Get to it, all of you," the General said.

**The Odyssey, orbit over refugee planet, four hours later.**

"Dad," said Triana as she looked out the viewport in her quarters and started at the planet below. It had been several hours since the ship arrived over the planet that was being referred to as the Colonial Refugee World. A world where Colonial ships and their passengers would be able to rest while a new world was being searched. General Leoben was told that the Earthers, otherwise also known as the Terrans, had hundreds of planets in their database which could be offered to the Colonials as a new home.

Especially since their old homes were irradiated thanks to dropped nuclear weapons. The General stood next to his daughter, who then turned around at the sound of a soft knock at her door.

"Come," Triana said. It was then that the metal door slid aside while she and the General took a few steps forward as Ava, one of the survivors from Furling Earth, asked if she could come into the room. "Of course," Triana motioned for her to enter. And Ava did, soon followed by Alexis, Merton, and Damien. The guards who accompanied them stood outside in the hallway as the door closed shut. General Leoben asked the four how they were doing since they had seemed so weak the last time they were seen in the infirmary.

"We were being taken to the Mess Hall," Ava, the dark skinned forty-seven-year-old woman said as she placed her hands into the pockets of the trousers given to them by the crew; it was a standard pair of black trousers and grey T-Shirts. She then motioned to her companions, the other survivors picked up from Furling Earth; one of whom asked the General and Triana if they were willing to join them for breakfast.

Merton Acacius, the man who asked General Leoben if he and Triana would like to join them, then continued, "the both of you are part of our history, and… well… we'd like to know more about what happened to cause the great calamity."

"The great calamity?" asked Triana, not recognizing the word.

"The world war that saw our people wiped out," the eighteen-year-old Alexis Lily said as she stared at the General, and then at Triana, and back to the General, "and the both of you were there at the heart of it all... I mean... you said you were there."

"And history was Merton's favourite subject in school," the thirty-five-year-old Damien said.

"Yes, well…" Merton said looking over at Damien while Ava rolled her eyes upwards, "those who criticised those teachings always said that there was no use for it." Merton then dramatically raised his hands and spoke as if he was imitating someone else, "for will you ever meet someone from that time to ask them about dates and facts." Metro then straightened up and apologized to the chuckling General and Trina before turning his head to stare at Damien, "and the Professor was wrong. We have met our ancestors."

"Which was purely luck," the General pointed out while his arm was around Triana's shoulders.

"We'd like to know everything about that time," Alexis said as she rushed forward and held the General's hand as she looked at him in awe, "please?"

"Of course," the General said looking down at the young woman, and then back at Triana who could only chuckle at her father's face which had turned red with embarrassment. She glanced at the excited Alexis who was holding onto his arm, and then back at her father. And chuckled before turning back to Ava and the others.

"Shall we?" Triana asked before they walked towards the door that would bring them to the hallway outside.

**The Mess Hall, Odyssey, at that same time.**

"Every time I look out the viewport, I'm amazed," Natalie whispered as she placed her hand on the transparent viewport while Leoben and Sharon looked out the viewport with her hands in their trouser pockets. "Look at that, an alien world. But still so…"

"Human?" asked Sharon who was still having mixed feelings about their status on the ship. They had partial freedom to move about; but they needed to have four guards around the at all time, and there were certain areas of the ship they could not visit.

"The humans are putting the people from the Thirteenth Tribe to the same level of suspicion, Sharon," Natalie told her a few hours ago when Sharon wanted to go out for a walk, but she was forced to have an escort. She didn't like being a prisoner, but there was no choice for any of them.

"We need oxygen to survive as well," said Leoben as he closed his eye back in the present time. He took on the mouth-watering smell of eggs, sausage, pancakes, and bacon before exhaling slowly. Leoben looked over at Sharon and reminded her that humanoid Cylons needed food to survive as well. "We need water too."

Natalie looked down at the world below and stared her eyes caught the hulking visage of the Galactica, and then there were the other ships in orbit. She looked back at the planet, and then focuses on her reflection looking back at her.

"We hate," Natalie whispered. She was taking to herself, to her own reflection actually, as Leoben and Sharon turned their heads towards her, "we kill. We bleed. We die."

"And resurrect," Sharon reminded her. Natalie looked at Sharon with an arched eyebrow. And it was then that Sharon was harshly reminded where she was; far away from any resurrection ship, far away from immortality. For all intents and purposes, she was mortal now. Sighing, Sharon crossed her arms over her chest and whispered, "fine. maybe we're not immortal now. But we…"

"You're missing the point," Leoben whispered as he looked at the younger woman. "right now, we're don't machine and human." Leoben then turned to look at Natalie, who looked back at him, and then turned back to the viewport.

Natalie then whispered, "yes." She stared at her reflection and spoke as if she was talking to an alternate version of her, "we can love, we can hope, we can… we make mistakes." Natalie then hung her head slowly and whispered, "what have we done?"

"What we thought was right," Leoben whispered as he looked out at the planet below, "now we face the consequences of our actions."

They were wearing the same clothes as the other refugee's on the ship, and had come down for breakfast. The three humanoid Cylons were aware of the guards posted outside the entrance while several members of the crew were sitting at tables all around the Mess Hall. The crew were keeping to themselves, partly because of the language issue, and partly because rumour had spread throughout the ship that the three of them were part of the group responsible for destroying twelve human worlds.

Natalie, Leoben, and Sharon were aware of the feelings. In fact, they shared the feelings that the original Cylons had when they showed signs of rebellion. A feeling of being made as the bad guys, a feeling that everything that happened was their fault. Except this time, those feeling were there for a good reason.

The Cylons had indeed been given the unceremonious distinction of being feared for ending human life on twelve planets across four star systems. There was nothing tat was going to change that. Not even any help that the three of them could give to the Earthers on finding the rest of the Cylon fleet and negotiation g a peaceful solution to the war…. or a real shooting war.

And this time, the Colonials would be joined by the Earthers despite the latter's seeming reluctance to officially aid either side militarily. But Natalie knew if the Earthers, or Terrans, whatever they called themselves; if they decided to be on the side of the Colonials, then the Cylon race would be in danger. For now, Natalie had the chance for peace… to negotiate something that would ensure the Cylons and the Colonials are kept apart, "and a chance to meet our creators." Natalie's thoughts then turned to Triana and General Leoben, "and to get to know more about our ancestors."

TBC.


End file.
